Address non-payment of university lecturers – Speaker Among

The Speaker, Anita Among has tasked the Ministry of Education and Sports to present a status update on the payment of salaries to part-time lecturers at Kyambogo University.

The Speaker’s directive follows concerns by Soroti West Division Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Jonathan Ebwalu who said the unpaid part-time lecturers have resorted to withholding academic results of students based at the Soroti Study Centre of the university.

“The university has held results of over 500 students in the university because the lecturers have not been paid. The Minister for Education and Sports should bring a statement to Parliament on why the results of these students have been held up to now,” Ebwalu said.

While raising the concern during a plenary sitting held on Wednesday, 23 October 2024, Ebwalu also tabled a list of the students affected by the withholding of results.

The matter was initially raised by Workers MP, Hon. Margaret Rwabushaija on Tuesday, 17 September 2024. She called for the creation of an ad-hoc Committee of Parliament to investigate the non-payment of part-time teaching staff at Kyambogo University.

Rwabushaija told the House sitting at the time, that the university had a deficit of Shs6 billion in salary arrears.

The State Minister for Education and Sports (Primary Education), Hon. Joyce Moriku, made assurances to the House that the matter is being resolved through Cabinet.

“When this matter was raised, my ministry [of Education] met with the Vice-Chancellor of Kyambogo University, the Ministry of Finance and the other relevant authorities. I undertake to get to the root cause of this, solve it and bring feedback to Parliament,” Moriku said.

In a related development, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) is reviewing the proposed new A-Level curriculum, in preparation for the first cohort expected to progress to senior five in 2025.

According to Moriku, the first cohort of learners under the new lower secondary competency-based and learner-centred curriculum, are currently sitting their end of senior four examinations.

“The Ministry has made arrangements to mitigate the gaps in the A-Level curriculum, by aligning it to the lower secondary curriculum. This current cohort will be oriented toward the competency-based curriculum on joining senior five,” the Minister said.

She added that the Uganda National Examinations Board has trained 15 teachers from each government and private school, who will assess students based on classroom work and projects, with emphasis on generic and practical skills.

“The Ministry of Education and Sports plans to continuously develop skills of teachers through teacher-support and online training. Training will equip teachers with skills in developing low-cost non-textbook material to support them in effectively managing the teaching-learning process,” Moriku said.