Why nursery teacher training institutions are seeking reform in national teacher policy

The Pre-primary Teacher Training Institutions Association of Uganda (PPTTIA-U) has asked Parliament to recommend to the government establishing a national examination board charged with assessment of students being trained as nursery teachers in the country.

PPTTIA-U in a petition to Parliament, insists that Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is faced with challenges of poor quality of teachers because nursery teacher training institutions do not have a national curriculum and also a national assessment board. The petition that was presented to Parliament on November 15, 2022 is currently before the Committee on Education and Sports.

Appearing before the Committee on Tuesday, PPTTIA-U officials suggested that without streamlining the nursery teacher training in the country, the National Teachers Policy (NTP) will not be realized since it is not primed on basic research from the sector.

PPTTIA-U President, Moses Bina told the Committee chaired by Bunyaruguru County MP, John Tuwesigye Ntamuhiira that while the Ministry of Education may take time to establish a national examination board specific for assessment of nursery teachers, the Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board (UBTEB) can be temporarily handed the mandate.

“Concerning the issues related to ECCE teacher training and assessment, we would like to bring to your notice that all certificate courses except nursery teaching in Uganda are assessed at the centre. It is my desire and humble prayer that a central body (UBTED) takes over the assessment of nursery teachers in Uganda” said Bina.

Bina added that, there is no national body that examines nursery teachers apart from those that are privately established and have been assessing teachers using different curriculum and frameworks. Something that exposes Ugandan children to the hands of “incompetent teachers”.

“It is true we teach and award certificates as institutions anyway we feel like. Because of this, the country is flooded with incompetent yet qualified Nursery Teachers. UBTED is a tried and tested body in examining specialized fields” he added.

UBTEB which took over the assessment of certificates and diplomas offered by tertiary institutions from the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) has been examining students doing technical and business courses in the country while there are specialized bodies for nurses and midwives and allied health workers, among others.

Teacher policy

PPTTIA-U also wants Parliament to scrutinize the National Teacher Policy to make sure that it has clear provisions for the ECCE teachers as the country wants to have only university degree holding teachers by 2030.

Currently, Grade III teachers who are employed in government primary schools have run back to school to pursue diploma education which will quickly allow them to enroll for bachelor’s degree in education to be able to meet the policy requirements by 2030. Nursery Teachers though not employed in the government schools are not spared by this policy either.

However, PPTTIA-U officials insist that there is something wrong with the policy because the Ministry did not carry out adequate studies on the ECCE sector before determining the qualification of these teachers.

Rev Edward Kawanga, the Secretary for Ethics and Integrity at PPTTIA-U said that the association wants the Ministry of Education and Sports to implement the National Teacher Policy with exception of the ECCE because it is disenfranchising many nursery teachers who with certificates cannot afford to pay tuition to upgrade.

The job market for nursery teachers in Uganda is in the private sector where they are reportedly under paid hence not able to upgrade on their level of education.

Rev Kawanga believes that if the sector is first regulated outside the NTP, many teachers will be able to be assessed nationally at certificate and diploma level so that they are able to meet the entry requirements for university education.

“The Minimum qualification should remain as stipulated in the ECD training framework depending on the nature of human resource required in the different types of ECCE learning centres. Because imposing such a policy on a baby education sub-sector such as ECCE is very dangerous to the education of the children of our country Uganda. Let us take the approach of steady progress as far as ECCE is concerned” said Rev Kawanga.

According to Rev Kawanga, if the ECCE sector is excluded from the implementation of the NTP the country will benefit by; reducing the number of educational wastages after Primary Seven and Senior Four; increasing the quality and quantity of qualified teachers; increasing the enrolment of children of 3 to 5 years into school and supporting Universal Primary Education to achieve its aims and objectives.

The officials said that with only Kyambogo University known for training nursery teachers at degree level, the country is not assured of adequate manpower to provide ECCE and implement the NTP. They reported that for the 2023/24 academic year, only two students have been admitted on government sponsorship while 17 are on private admission at Kyambogo University.

The petition

While presenting the gist of the petition to the committee, Napak District Woman MP Faith Nakut informed the Committee that pre-primary education being left in the hands of the private sector has affected the children of the poor who educate only in UPE schools where learning starts from Primary One.

Nakut said that the situation is not any better in the rural private schools which employ unqualified nursery teachers to train the children because they cannot afford to remunerate graduate teachers as provided for in the policy.

“How early childhood education in Uganda is run as a gamble, with now children forced to cram rather than understand basic word formation yet no one is bothered as our children suffer cramming huge content which is not age related because of the inefficiency of the teachers employed” said Nakut.

Ministry official on spot

During the Committee meeting, PPTTIA-U officials also alleged that some of the top officials in the Ministry of Education and sports are behind the poor mainstreaming of the ECCE in the country because they set up businesses in the sector.

Bina said that with the country not having a national body to run the ECCE teacher training assessment, Elizabeth Kisakye the Principal Education Officer in charge of Pre-Primary Teacher Training in the Ministry of Education and Sports has been running an unofficial assessment body for the nursery teachers. Accused together with Kisakye are Makerere University Lecturers, Dr Edward Kabugo and Prof Mugaga Muwaga.

“These people use their offices and government resources even to advertise what they know is wrong. Whenever she (Kisakye) speaks about ECD, she never misses to talk about affiliation to a University and in all this meaning the kiosk behind Lumumba Hall in Makerere University” he said.

Bina said that efforts to sort out the issue of a “kiosk” at Makerere University which has reportedly been assessing nursery teachers studying from private institutions have not yielded results.

Committee Chairperson, Ntamuhiira said that the officials mentioned in the petition by the PPTTIA-U so that they can be accorded a fair hearing before a report to Parliament is presented.

“Clerk please make sure that these officials who have been mentioned are invited to interface with the committee” he ruled.

Mbale City Woman MP, Konnie Nakayenze Galiwanga suggested that the government should consider providing for a budget to develop the ECCE program so that it benefits all the children in the country by ensuring that qualified teachers are recruited to start pre-primary education in government aided schools.