Teachers Have 10 Years to Upgrade to Degree Level as Gov’t Phases Out Grade III, IV Levels

All teachers in the country at the levels of Grade III and Grade IV will have a grace period of 10 years to upgrade to university degree level.

A newly launched National Teacher Policy will require all teachers to be University graduates.

The policy according to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education Alex Kakooza also provides for a gradual phasing out of Grade III certificate and Grade IV diploma training courses.

“Accordingly, all grade 3 certificate and grade 5 diploma training courses will be phased out. The minimum entry requirements to a teacher training course shall be “A” level,” Kakooza told press yesterday.

“However those currently in training shall complete their academic programs and those without degrees will be required to acquire a degree with in a period of 10 years”

According to Kakooza, all teachers shall be university graduates with a Bachelor of Education degree but specializing in either pre-primary, primary education, lower secondary or higher secondary education and tertiary education.

The 10-year period, Kakooza says is meant to ensure that students admitted before 2021 in national teacher colleges and primary teacher colleges have adequate time to adjust the requirements of the National Teacher policy standards and also to ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the policy.

He noted that the interventions outlined in the policy will make the teaching profession comparable with other professions like the medical, engineering and legal among others.

The national teacher policy was approved by cabinet in April 2019 and officially launched on the 5th October 2019 during the celebrations marking National Teachers Day, which marked the beginning of its implementation.

The PS says evidence on education based systems around the world reveal that the most important factor in determining how well children learn is the quality of teachers.

“The best system draw their teachers from among the best graduates and train them vigorous and effectively based on best classroom practices”

He also noted that the development of the teacher policy in Uganda was a result of a study on teachers’ issues in Sub Saharan Africa (TISSA) which was undertaken in 2013.

The study report identified numerous challenges affecting the quality of education in Uganda such as under professionalization of the teaching profession, inadequate quality assurance and standards and low entry academic requirements for entrants to the teaching profession.

“TISSA recommended the development of National teacher policy to address these issues”

Meanwhile, Kakooza called on parents, teachers, head teachers and all stakeholders in education sector to take their children for immunization saying that it’s a national policy that is intended to benefit the children of this country.

“We fully support the immunization of children both at school and outside school but for us mainly we speak about schools because if these children are immunised we reduce on the incidents of immunizable diseases and then children attend school uninterrupted”

He cautioned teachers and head teachers that have attempted to subvert the exercise.

“We want to re affirm our support to the immunization program and we have issued circulars to all schools to welcome the exercise and support it fully”

Photo: Alex Kakooza the permanent secretary in the ministry of education speaking to reporters at the Ministry in Kampala