Kampala, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni has announced that his next term of office will prioritize the recruitment of 50,000 additional teachers to address the chronic staffing gaps in government primary schools.
Speaking at the launch of the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps in Kampala on Wednesday, Mr Museveni said the move is part of his administration’s plan to eliminate disparities in government education and enforce completely free schooling.
“I have checked; in order to have enough teachers at the rate of 53 students per teacher, we need an extra 50,000 teachers,” the President revealed.
Currently, Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools employ about 142,000 teachers, but the country still faces a massive shortfall. School managers have long argued that the gaps force them to recruit private teachers and levy unofficial fees on parents, undermining the promise of free education.
Museveni vowed to end that practice. “We are going to insist on free education in government schools. The school managers all along used the politics of not having enough teachers and that they needed to hire private teachers, that way they charged fees claiming it’s for paying those hired teachers. With 50,000 new teachers, there will be no need for such charges,” he said.
The President’s pledge comes in the wake of a nationwide teachers’ strike that began on September 12, led by the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU). Arts teachers laid down their tools over salary disparities with their science counterparts and demanded government fulfill its promise of salary enhancement. The industrial action left classrooms across the country deserted, with candidates for end-of-year examinations missing vital revision lessons.
Beyond education, Museveni also directed his office to integrate graduates of patriotism programs into government structures. He said the approach would empower young people with jobs and opportunities while harnessing their mobilization capacity.
“That way these youths are easily supported because they are trained and known, other than just leaving them stranded. Besides, they are a very big force of mobilization,” the President said.
The planned recruitment, if implemented, is expected to be one of the largest single drives in Uganda’s education sector and could dramatically reduce the student–teacher ratio, boost quality, and restore public confidence in UPE schools.
If you would like your article/opinion to be published on Uganda’s most authoritative news platform, send your submission on: [email protected]. You can also follow DailyExpress on WhatsApp and on Twitter (X) for realtime updates.
