The Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, has dispelled rumors claiming that arts teachers absconded from their duties despite the calling off of the industrial action.
Muyingo noted that government is not aware of any arts teacher who has absconded from duty.
Following the calling off of the countrywide strike by arts teachers demanding a fair salary increment, several media reports have since indicated that arts teachers are dodging classes.
However, speaking to the media during the Teacher Changemaker Development Program (TCMDP) National Boot Camp at Kololo SS on Tuesday, Muyingo termed the reports as lies.
“The government is not aware of any arts teacher who is not teaching because of salary issues. They are all in classes. These ones at Kololo SS can testify,” he said.
He noted that government has the goodwill of enhancing all teachers’ salaries but it’s constrained by the low resource envelope.
Commenting on the National Boot Camp, Muyingo said that the provision of giving learners research-based education is in line with the new curriculum which supports government efforts of skilling Ugandans.
Modern Kalema, the Country Director of STAR Education, said that they believe that the only way to change the education system is to improve both what is taught and how it is taught.
STAR Education is an education system strengthening program working in Uganda, India, and Indonesia.
“We work in both the primary and secondary education portfolios in all the geographies we operate in. We work towards securing a world where teachers love teaching and students love learning. We believe that Education Systems today must prepare every child everywhere to thrive in an increasingly complex world,” he said.
The National Boot Camp which combined together a number of headteachers from different schools, DEOs, among others, was organized through a partnership between the Ministry of Education & Sports-Secondary Department, the Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda (ASSHU) and STAR Education.
It is aimed at equipping headteachers who will later guide teachers and give learners evidence-based education.