Health training institutions moot for review of teaching curriculum

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | The Association of Principals of Health Training Institutions of Uganda-APHTIU is pushing for a review of the outdated teaching curriculum to meet the current challenges of the profession.

The principals and tutors of both public and private health institutions from across the country at their 12th annual scientific conference held in Masaka district have indicated that the current contents of their teaching curriculum has outlived the test of time hence a need for its review.

Grace Aninge, association’s General Secretary, also principal of Gulu College of Health Sciences says they have resolved to engage the responsible government departments and ministries to have the curriculum updated to the required standard.

She explains that currently, the curriculum creates a bigger disparity between the new technological innovations in the health profession and what is being taught in schools.

Aninge says that the last review of their course contents was done in 2007, and much of it has now been rendered irrelevant by the new innovations.

Besides incorporating new innovations into the actual teaching, Aninge explains that they also intend to have a curriculum that addresses other contemporary challenges that include among other morality and morale of the health workers to ensure that they offer quality services.

The tutors have on the other hand also re-echoed the demands to government to address the underlying salaries inequality between them and their counterparts in the health facilities.

According to Aninge, although they also first train as health workers before upgrading to become tutors in training institutions, their payment has remained low compared to the former who even have lower academic levels.

Servia Mugwanya, the Commissioner Civil Service Management at Ministry of Education who represented the Permanent Secretary in her response; assured the tutors of government’s commitment to rationalize their payment beginning with next financial year.

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