Kitgum Teachers Decry Staff Shortage

Primary teachers in Kitgum district are concerned about the high shortage of staff in schools.
Many primary schools in the district have less than seven teachers handling hundreds of pupils each day.
The teachers are now complaining that they are overwhelmed due to limited teachers.
Vincent Okwera, a teacher at Wang Lango primary school in Madi Opei sub-county says that the school has only had five teachers since 2004.
Okwera explains that as a result he has to teach primary four up to seven every day. He says due to the limited staff, the syllabus is rarely finished in the school that has over 400 pupils.
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Ray Omona a teacher in charge of implementing the thematic curriculum says that district authorities have been promising to post more teachers to the school for the past four years.
Omona says performance at the school remains poor because virtually, only two teachers manage four classes as three are limited to the thematic classes. Just like Okwera, Omona says pupils can not perform well when they are not taught the entire syllabus.
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Joseph Okello, a teacher at Kapeta primary school in Palabek kal says that they are only seven teachers handling over 400 pupils.
With limited classrooms at the school, Okello says it becomes very hard to keep the pupils in the one place so that other classes that are conducted under trees are not disrupted
Christopher Obalim, the senior education officer admits that there is a serious shortage of teachers in the district.
Obalim says the education department has submitted adjustment for staff ceiling of schools with few teachers to the public service commission.
He explains that they want each school to have a minimum of eight teachers.
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Obalim however advises communities who can afford, to mobilize and look for professional teachers and pay their salaries. He says education goes with sacrifice and contribution from the community.
The shortage of teachers in Kitgum district has forced twenty two schools to be degraded to less than level seven.