Teacher absenteeism persists despite e-inspection, says report

Absenteeism has persisted in public schools across the country despite the installation of the automated system to curb the vice, Ministry of Education officials have revealed.

The new e-inspection system, also known as Integrated Inspection System (IIS), was first piloted in 1,000 government schools spread in 46 districts across the country in 2016.

The tools were installed in the electronic gadgets and once the inspector reaches a certain school and enters its code, he gets to know everything that has been happening at the institution, which information can also be share with top officials at the ministry.

Ms Jane Frances Atima, the acting director of Education Standards in the ministry, said a recent study of the digitalised system by Unicef titled, ‘Time to Teach’ revealed that many teachers are not teaching all the subjects and those who have endeavored, are not delivering as per the ministry’s timetable guides.  

“Absenteeism is a big bottleneck to learning and it hinders children from attaining all expected competencies by the time they sit for Primary Leaving Examinations, and that’s why we’re still registering a big number of ungraded candidates in national exams,” she said during a training on how the e-inspection system can be enhanced last week. 

The training, conducted at St Henry’s College Kitovu in Masaka City, attracted all accounting officers from districts, municipalities, and cities.

She further stressed that the Unicef study also revealed that by the time most learners from public primary schools complete that level, they have had only four years of content against seven years.

“The truth is, there are some schools that are performing well but others have not effectively utilised the system. They have raised challenges such as Internet connectivity and lack of money for data but in some places, these are just excuses because in the same areas, you find some schools which are performing well,” Ms Atima noted.

“Some teachers are still adamant about clocking in and out, fearing  that our electronic system will capture  the number of hours they appear at school, this is partly failing the electronic system,” she added

Mr Ananias Kweyamba, the Ibanda District chief administrative officer, informed the ministry officials that these interventions need to go hand in hand with solutions aiming at addressing the root causes of the poor performance in government schools.

“The motivation levels of teachers are still low because they lack housing facilities, they cover long distances and their salaries are still low, we need also to consider addressing these root causes if this e-inspection model is to generate results,” he noted.

Ms Doreen Ankunda Tumwebaze, the commissioner of Basic Education at the Ministry of Education, revealed that some school administrators and teachers have deliberately disconnected the e-inspection machines.

The State Minister for Primary Education, Dr Moriku Kaducu, said the e-inspection system will be effective once all stakeholders work together.  “Universal education was introduced to leave no child behind, but along the way, we seem to lose track due to various issues such as school fees charges and inspection gaps, but this system will provide effectiveness in supervising and monitoring our schools,” she said.

Background

Due to the challenges experienced in reporting and compiling data, the Education ministry introduced an Integrated Inspection System (IIS) to enhance inspection. The project is part of a grant worth $100 from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)/ World Bank that government received in 2015.