A legislator has appealed to the National Assembly to adopt a motion that will require the Teachers Service Commission to halt the delocalization of teachers and initiate a comprehensive review of the country’s teacher deployment policy.
Hon Titus Khamala, MP has expressed concern over the continued delocalization of teachers which was initiated by the Teachers Service Commission in 2018. In his submission to the House the Member of Parliament representing Lurambi Constituency lamented that the delocalization had immensely disrupted teachers’ lives, lowered teacher morale, affected teacher and student perfomance negatively and caused untold trauma to many teachers countrywide.
“This exercise is not supported by a clear policy framework and it was initiated without the participation of teachers or their unions, contrary to Articles 118 and 132 of the Constitution on public participation and involvement of the people in the process of policy making; cognizant of the fact that, delocalization of teachers is inconsistent with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) teacher deployment practice, which treats education as a culture process conducted within a people’s cultural context at the local level”, noted the Legislator.
Members of Parliament who spoke to the motion acknowledged that the lack of a clear policy framework guiding the recruitment, promotion and the compulsory transfer of teachers has resulted in numerous complaints and petitions by teachers. The House further acknowledged that there is a significant teacher shortage at the Primary and Secondary level in various counties resulting in severe learning gaps. The Teachers Service Commission was urged to partner with the Ministry of Education and education stakeholders to address the shortages, unclear recruitment and transfer procedures.
While seconding the motion Hon. Dr. Wilberforce Oundo Mudenyo, MP Funyula Constituency appreciated the invaluable role that teachers play in actualizing the national goals of education; noting that a conducive working environment for teachers enhances performance. He further reminded the House that, the compulsory delocalization of teachers commenced in 2018 by the Teachers Service Commission largely interfered with teachers’ work and family environment, negatively affected teacher morale.
Should the motion be approved by the National Assembly, the Teachers Service Commission will be required to immediately reverse the ongoing delocalization of teachers and initiate a comprehensive review of the teacher deployment policy with the involvement of teachers in order to make the policy consistent with International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO)laws and practices on teacher management and deployment. Further, the Teachers Service Commission would be required to review the Teacher Recruitment Policy with a view to devolving it to zonallevel as the point of recruitment.
