Government primary school headteachers in Mukono District have voiced frustration over what they describe as government failure to address critical challenges in the education sector, while unfairly blaming teachers for poor performance in final examinations.
The concerns were raised during a meeting convened by Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Uganda’s State Minister for Primary Education, at Nagalama Mixed Primary School, where she met headteachers to gather views on improving academic performance and restoring parents’ confidence in Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools.
Several headteachers cited poor infrastructure and delayed funding as major obstacles. Gasheegu Mulama, headteacher of Mugomba Primary School, noted that capitation grants are often delayed and insufficient, complicating effective planning.
Dr. Kaducu clarified that delays in releasing capitation grants fall under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, not the Education Ministry, and pledged that her ministry would formally engage Finance to ensure timely disbursement.
Etop Bosco, headteacher of Namaliri Primary School, revealed that his school operates with only four teachers handling classes from Primary One to Primary Seven, and called on the government to recruit more staff to ease workloads.
Teachers also criticized what they described as automatic promotion practices, arguing that advancing learners without adequate mastery negatively affects performance in Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB).
However, Dr. Kaducu dismissed claims of an official automatic promotion policy, emphasizing that no such directive exists and that promotion should strictly be based on merit, similar to secondary schools.
Stephen Kadiama, headteacher of Kisowera Primary School, urged the government to legalize cost-sharing arrangements, allowing schools to charge modest supplementary fees.
He explained that additional funds would help hire private teachers and improve staff welfare.
Headteachers further highlighted that the absence of school feeding programs leaves both teachers and pupils hungry throughout the school day, negatively affecting concentration and academic performance.
Mukono District Chief Administrative Officer Henry Damba called on the government to prioritize school feeding programs and strengthen human resources to reduce dropouts and improve learning outcomes.
Dr Kaducu acknowledged that infrastructure in government primary schools remains inadequate.
She noted that although Mukono District receives approximately Shs603 million for UPE and over Shs700 million annually in school facilitation grants for maintenance, there is no dedicated emergency fund to respond quickly to disasters such as buildings damaged by heavy rains.
Despite Mukono being among the better-performing districts in national examinations, including UPE, UCE, and UACE, most top results are recorded in private schools, with relatively few government primary schools meeting expectations.
