Over 6,000 health workers cleared for employment

At least 6,016 out of 7,376 registered health workers who sat for their Uganda Allied Health Examinations last year have been cleared to work in hospitals.

These include; orthopaedic technologists, clinical ophthalmologists, medical entomologists and parasitologists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, dentists, and medical laboratory technicians among others.

Out of these 7,376 registered health workers, 4,222 (57 per cent) were male while 3,154 (43 per cent) were female. 2,861 of the 7376 were pursuing diploma programs, 4,222 were on Certificate programmes and 293 were on Higher Diploma Programmes.

During the release of the exam results on March 14 at the office of the President in Kampala, the Executive Secretary of the Uganda Allied Health Examination Board (UAHEB) Mr Joseph Agondua, revealed that a total of 1360 candidates representing 17.2 percent failed the exams and five (5) candidates were caught engaging in malpractices.

“This year candidates performed at 82.8 per cent compared to 82.9 per cent of the last academic year 2022/2023 indicating a decrease in performance," Mr Agondua said, adding that this was due to inadequate supervision in the practicum areas.

However, the board registered a decrease in examination malpractice this year compared to the previous year (from seven to five candidates).

Mr Agondua said the most common examination malpractice was plagiarism of the research reports which is attributed to inadequate teaching and supervision.

The Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni appreciated the general increase in the number of candidates to 7,376 from 7,217 the previous year.

“The number of female candidates increased to 3154 from 2873 the previous year 2022/2023. This is commendable. However, in the spirit of equitable access to education, more efforts are still required to attract female students into the Allied Health Professional education and training,” Mrs Janet Museveni noted in her speech read by the State Minister For Higher Education John Chrysostom Muyingo.

She added: “I have noted the smaller numbers of students enrolling for higher diploma programmes in Audiology, clinical psychiatry, and clinical ophthalmology. This is regrettable and yet the said programmes are very critical in contributing to effective health service delivery.”

Ms Museveni pledged that the ministry will continue monitoring the quality of training of health workers and will not hesitate to bring to order all those who fail to comply with the set standards.

The Education Ministry's permanent secretary, Ms Ketty Lamaro, urged the health institutions to prioritize their expenditures on critical activities amidst the scarcity of funds.

“As you may be aware of the merger of the institutions and agencies, the ministry will keep you informed of further developments in the road map. I request that when called upon, you should give maximum corporation,” she said.

Ms Joyce Kaducu, state ministry for primary education decried the action by the Nakaseke District Local government led by Chairperson Mr Ignatis Kiwanukaq Koomu, of subjecting 40 primary seven teachers to a competence test exam after the district registered poor performance in the recently released PLE exams.

“The poor performance of PLE candidates in Nakaseke District is not caused by teachers alone. We have the parents, the environment, and other stakeholders. So, for leadership to subject the teachers to competence test, it was uncalled for,” she said.

Ms Kaducu advised Nakaseke leadership to invite other stakeholders to handle the teachers professionally and build their careers through continuous training.