Prime
Tutors petition Janet over recruitment, misuse of funds
Kampala. A section of tutors in Primary Teachers’ Colleges (PTC) have petitioned the Minister of Education, Ms Janet Museveni, accusing their principals of greed, irregularly recruiting staff, misuse of capitation grants and coniving with ministry officials to unfairly transfer them.
“The recruitment to the administrative ladders are no longer transparent.
Tutors with god-fathers are usually recommended from the colleges and the Teacher Instructor, Education and Training (TIET) department. In most cases, relatives, close confidants and those who pay their way through get appointed as deputies and principals. Principals have continued with impunity to use the excuse of inadequate capitation grants to colleges to fleece these institutions.
There is open inflating of prices of goods and services to colleges and deliberate connivance with suppliers to cheat,” the September 25 letter reads in part.
The letter was written by whistle-blowers who claim to be tutors in the various PTCs and copied to the State minister for Primary Education, Minister of Ethics, Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary, commissioner TIET, all principals of PTCs.
Transfers
However, Dr Jane Egau, the TIET commissioner, told Daily Monitor that the tutors’ complaints had not reached her table but suspected that because of the pending transfer, they have started looking for excuses to stop the ministry from effecting their plan.
According to Dr Egau, there has not been a transfer in the Primary Teachers’ Colleges for more than three decades now and they had engaged them early this year to prepare for one in December which the ministry believes could spark off resistance for those that had personalised institutions.
“It is possible that the things are happening and I am not aware. I have not seen the letter but we have always emphasised in our meetings that teacher education should be a model department,” he said.
Ms Beatrice Byakutaga, the Shimoni PTC principal, who doubles as chairperson for principals association, yesterday said some of the complaints could be for individual institutions.
