The government is in a process of phasing out Grade III and Grade V teaching qualifications in favour of a bachelor’s degree in Education.
The director of education standards at the Ministry of education, Ms. Kedress Turyagyenda said the proposal is contained in a National Teachers Policy, which was approved in April this year by Cabinet.
She said the policy aims at, among others, upskilling teachers to bachelor’s degrees, and phasing out grade three and grade five teachers.
Currently, the Grade III certificate is the minimum qualification for primary school teachers, while the Grave V certificate is the minimum qualification for Secondary School teachers.
However, according to Dr. Kedrace Turyagyenda, the director of Education Standards in the Ministry of Education and Sports, under the new policy, a teacher will be required to have a Bachelor degree of Education in order to teach in either primary or a secondary school.
Speaking as the chief guest during Teachers’ Day Celebrations for National Teachers’ Colleges-NTCs at NTC Kabale in Kabale district on Wednesday, Turyagyenda says that the proposal is in accordance with National Teachers’ Policy that was introduced in 2017 with technical support from the UNESCO, International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) under the Capacity Development for Education Programme.
The day was cerebrated under the theme “Young Teachers: The Future of a Profession”. According to Turyagyenda, the proposal requires teachers with bachelor’s degree in education to make a decision of teaching in nursery, primary or secondary school levels.
Turyagyenda says that the policy will be implemented gradually after thorough consultations with all education stakeholders in order for it not to affect teachers who are already in service as well as existing core Primary Teacher’s Colleges and NTCs.
Filbert Baguma, the Secretary General of Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) says that the proposed policy is highly welcome because it is aimed at enhancing competence to effectively deliver quality learning outcomes and leadership at all levels of the education cycle.
Baguma says that because most teachers have no bachelor’s degree, they are always booed and underrated in public as less educated civil servants. Baguma also says that it is always a challenge to demand for teachers’ salary increment because the government is somehow not convinced with reasons of increasing salaries for certificate holders at this era.
He however says that the proposed policy should be implemented with care so that no teacher is affected.
