Amuru district authorities resolve to punish headteachers over poor performance

Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Harsh punishments await head teachers whose schools will perform poorly in Amuru. The district local government has now attached punishments to poor performance that will be meted out when schools reopen.

According to the education department, Amuru district has been performing poorly in Primary Leaving, Uganda Certificate of Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education examinations in recent years.

In 2020, the district got a laughable 63 candidates in division one in PLE out of the over 2,000 candidates who sat the examinations.

In a bid to change the status, the district education department and the district executive have formed a team of monitors and supervisors who will rate and make decisions on what punishment a school administrator will get in case of poor performance when schools reopen in January next year.

Joyce Lanyero, the Amuru District Education Officer says some of the punishments they are pondering on include transfer, demotion, and interdiction among others.

Lanyero says that they have also earmarked 15 million shillings to be given to the best performing schools to motivate the administrators, teachers and learners.

According to Lanyero, their priority will be primary school learners before rolling out the punishments to secondary schools.

Given the trends, the likelihood of rewards being paid out appear low but with hard work, there may also be winners. But punishments are more likely to be meted out for this coming year.

Michael Lakony, the Amuru district LCV chairperson wonders why private schools in the district have a relatively good performance compared to government schools which are managed by degree holders as head teachers and teachers.

Lakony says that the penalties and rewards are to reawaken the teachers who have not been active for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic to focus on their profession without any laxity as has been the case according to their findings as the major cause of poor performance in examinations before the lockdown.

William Alex Latim, the head teacher of Agwayugi primary school welcomes the decision but says the school administrators should be supported with all the necessities such as timely release of funds, and other resources for the target of the district to be met.

Another headteacher who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job says that whereas the district is coming up with penalties or punishments, their leaders also have a huge role to play especially in the sensitization of parents to ensure they provide and keep their children in school without unnecessary interruptions.

He says that most times when learners reach upper primary and secondary level, some parents tend begin looking at especially at the girls as wealth in marriage.

According to statistics from the education department in the district, over 3,500 teenage learners were made pregnant during the lockdown.

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