This week a rather unusual situation took place at one of the rural schools when the authorities attempted to arrest a villager who had been engaged to teach in place of the absent teacher. As local reports stated, the actual teacher had been absent from his post for a long time and therefore arranged to have a local man from the village take his place and teach the children. This arrangement continued for several weeks without much notice being taken until the education authorities received a tip and went in to investigate. When the authorities got to the school and began to ask questions, the villager who had been serving as teacher suddenly escaped. He ran out of the classroom and vanished into the surrounding bushes before the police and the district education officers could catch him. A number of parents and certain teachers at the school had for some time suspected that there was a problem. One parent, who agreed to remain anonymous, stated that the ‘teacher’ was unable to explain simple subjects and that the children always told him that the lessons were confusing. The parent explained that at first they had thought perhaps the boy was just new or having difficulties, but now they understand the true situation. The education authorities have confirmed that they are looking for both the teacher who has been absent and the man who was engaged to take his place. They state that the habit of teachers leaving their posts and paying someone else to carry on in their place is becoming a serious issue in certain districts. A district education officer who wished to remain unnamed told the reporter that cases of this kind have a damaging effect on the quality of education. “These children are the future of Uganda; when a teacherrefuses to come to school and instead employs a villager who has no training, we are cheating both the pupils and their parents who pay the school fees,” he stated. The issue has led to furious debates on social media and in local radio stations. Many Ugandans are questioning for how long this sort of thing has been going on and how many other schools are involved. The education ministry is being blamed by certain people for having inadequate oversight, while others argue that the issue lies in the low salaries which cause some teachers to have to seek other means of making a living while still receiving their monthly wages. Local leaders are demanding a thorough inquiry and strict measures be taken against any teacher who is found to have left their classroom. They would like the Ministry of Education to carry out unexpected inspections in a greater number of schools, particularly in rural areas where supervision is poor. While the police are still looking for the runaway villager and the absent teacher, the parents are concerned about the amount of learning time their children have lost and are now asking the school to send a fully qualified teacher right away. This case has once again brought the problem of teachers being absent to public attention. Those concerned about education believe that unless the government increases the monitoring and enhances the situation for teachers, such incidents will keep on occurring in various parts of the country. At the moment the school is attempting to get back to normal lessons while the search for the two men goes on.
Drama as Villager Hired by Absentee Teacher Flees Arrest in School Scandal
