Premier Nabbanja Demands Probe Into Ghost Teachers in Gov’t Schools

January 26th 2024 By Edgar Musisi

The Prime Minister of Uganda Rt Hon Robinah Nabbanja has expressed frustration with ghost teachers on the payroll of government schools and accordingly demanded for investigations into the same.

According to the Prime Minister, the issue of having ghost teachers hampers the resources that would otherwise be beneficial in other developmental projects and it also compromises with the quality of Education in the country.

“It is unacceptable that our education system is burdened by the presence of ghost teachers who neither contribute to the learning environment nor fulfil their responsibilities. This not only hampers the quality of education but also wastes precious resources that could be better utilized for the benefit of our students , we should use patriotism as a tool to help ourselves and the students to instil love in them both for the school and the country at large “, said Nabbanja.

Nabbanja made the remarks on Friday morning while officiating at the training of Western Uganda region Secondary School Head Teachers at National Leadership Institute -NALI in Kyankwanzi where the educators are under going a Patriotism Course ahead of the reopening of schools next month.

Rt Hon Nabbanja addressing Head teachers

Organized by the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps headed by Ms Hellen Seku, the initiative aims to equip educators with tools to foster a deep sense of patriotism among their students.

In her remarks , the Prime Minister added that strict measures are expected to be implemented to ensure that all teachers on the government payroll are actively engaged in teaching and contribute meaningfully to the education sector of Uganda.

She commended the head of Patriotism Corps Commissioner Seku for organizing such a training where she hopes that it it will create an opportunity for a great impact on the education system in the country.

Ghost teachers are individuals who are listed as teachers on school payrolls but are either non-existent or do not actively contribute to the educational process. This phenomenon has been a long-standing challenge, with reports suggesting that these ghost teachers continue to receive salaries without providing any tangible services to the students.

Rt Hon Nabbanja being received at the event

In 2022, the Auditor General ‘s report ordered the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) to investigate how the government lost 19 billion to shillings to 609 ghost ‘teachers’ who forged teachers’ appointment letters and had been earning salaries for a period ranging between 1 and 39 years in 129 districts .

Earlier ,the report had indicated that there were 1,000 ghost teachers all together in the government schools across the country , majority of whom were science ‘teachers’.

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