With increased enrollment of learners in the district from 40,000 in 2017 to over 43,000 this year, the teacher to pupil ratio now stands at 1:78 as opposed to the national standard of 1:40. The district got 13 first grades in 2015 Primary Leaving Examinations PLE; 19 in 2016 and 74 in 2017.
Lamwo district local government is facing a shortage of up to 365 primary school teachers.
The human resource gap is impacting negatively on performance and future of the learners across 71 government aided schools.
The District Education Officer Banabas Langoya reveals that the district currently has only 535 teachers, a figure that is overwhelmed by congested classrooms of 43,283 learners in the district.
Langoya told URN that the district has hired at most seven teachers per school who are very strained with workload. The human resource gap is being bridged through additional recruitment by Parents and Teachers Associations – PTA.
Lamwo's education sector is further faced with inadequate office space; few field staff, lack of accommodation for teachers and unsustainable development fund which is also treated with negative attitudes from parents.
According to Francis Komakech Oyil, Lamwo district Secretary for Education, the staffing level is far below the national standards. Oyil fears the district risks slumbering into poor performance unless the trend is reversed.
John Komakech Ogwok, the Lamwo district LC5 Chairperson says the district has written to the Education Ministry seeking permission to recruit more teachers but the request was turned down due to unavailability of finances.
With increased enrollment of learners in the district from 40,000 in 2017 to over 43,000 this year, the teacher to pupil ratio now stands at 1:78 as opposed to the national standard of 1:40.
The district got 13 first grades in 2015 Primary Leaving Examinations – PLE; 19 in 2016 and 74 in 2017.
Journalist
Ochola's journalism career begun from Radio King 90.2 FM in Gulu around 2009, and Radio Rupiny 95.7 Fm under Vision Group in 2012. He also reported for Mighty Fire 91.5 Fm, Kitgum in 2015 before joining Wizarts Foundation in 2017.
He has been reporting for Uganda Radio Network (URN) since 2017 before being posted as Bureau Chief Kitgum, and later Gulu between 2018 - 2021. Currently, he reports from Parliament.
