The Ministry of Education and Sports has come out to crack a whip on teachers who spend school time out of the classrooms attending to their businesses, ordering for their expulsion and deletion of their names from the government payroll.
In a circular of 31st October 2024, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry, Dr Kedrace Turyagenda, expressed concern over rampant abscondment from duty by teacher both in primary and post primary education institutions affirms that the ministry is aware that some teachers have been absent from duty for over a year without authorization from their supervisors.
In the document addressed to all headteachers, Dr Turyagenda states that through inspection and investigative reports, the ministry has confirmed that some teachers are preoccupied with running their own schools while others are busy part-timing hoping from one school to another, which has impeded service delivery of education services in some parts of the country. Concerned, she notes that these teachers continue to receive salary from government for no work done.
“Such cases must be reported to the authorities so as to have the teachers deleted from the payroll and removed from the education service by the appointing authority for abscondment from duty in accordance with Section A-0 of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders 2021 and the Education Service Commission regulations 2012.” Dr Turyagenda stated.
She notes that as public officers, teachers should be reminded that regular attendance to duty is a contractual obligation and they are required to be at their duty stations during working hours from Monday to Friday 8am to 5PM.
The PS however faulted the headteachers and education service administrators for sleeping on the job as teachers abscond from duty under their watch. The vice of teacher absenteeism became rampant in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then, some teachers spend most of their time doing side businesses -some riding boda bodas or frying chapatis.
“This should not be happening under the watch of headteachers if there was effective supervision of staff in schools.” She added in a document copied to the Education Minister Hon. Janet Museveni, State Ministers of Education, PS’s of local governments, all CAOs and town clerks.
“The purpose of this letter therefore is to inform you that any headteacher who maintains an absentee teacher on government payroll will be held liable”
Dr Turyagenda states in the document.