Africa-Press – Uganda. The government is considering rolling out the electronic inspection system in private schools, the State minister for Higher Education, Mr Chrysostom Muyingo, has revealed.
The electric inspection system helps to monitor whatever happens in schools, thereby curbing absenteeism among teachers.
It is carried out using mobile phones and tablets, which have been installed with two tools; a teaching/learning observation and head teacher’s management.
Mr Muyingo said, the technology has proved effective in many public schools across the country where it is currently being implemented.
“Our target is to see that all learners complete the syllabus. In this, we cannot leave out private institutions because the learners they teach belong to this country,” he said in an interview on Monday.
Using the same system, Mr Muyingo said, government will also be able to know which private schools are cheating both learners and parents by not covering the entire syllabus and consequently refuse to renew their operational licences.
The licences are issued to schools when they register to start their operations in the districts, municipalities or cities. The school proprietors are expected to acquire another licence for registration status, which details progress in the school.
The registration status shows the qualification of teachers and infrastructural development in the school, including classrooms, pit-latrines and playgrounds, among others.
After acquiring the registration status licence, the schools can then be registered with the Ministry of Education and Sports, including acquiring Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) registration numbers.
The minister was responding on the success story of the e-inspection programme in many schools in Masaka City.
Mr Steven Kakeeto, the Masaka City principal education officer, said more tracking gargets are yet to be delivered to private schools in the areas which are set to use e-inspection. Masaka City has more than 200 schools, both public and private.
“We held a meeting with the head teachers in all private schools in Masaka City last Thursday and briefed them on how this tracking system works and the aim of introducing it in their schools. It has worked wel in public schools, especially in the city centre. The head teachers welcomed the innovation,” he said.
Masaka Secondary School head teacher Musa Mpungu Musoke said they embraced the system and it has helped teachers to keep time.
“The advantage we have is that most of our teachers reside within school premises and don’t face transport challenges, which usually hinders others from reporting early,” he said.
However, in some schools in rural areas, implementation of the e-inspection system still faces some challenges due to poor internet connectivity.
“Some of the schools also face a power (electricity) problem and the tracking machines suddenly switch off when we get a blackout. This means in such a situation, no staff attendance can be tracked that day,” Ms Doris Rujuna, the inspector of schools in Kimaanya-Kabonera Municipality, said.
She added that some teachers are still reluctant to clock in and out fearing that the electronic system would capture the number of hours they appear at school, which may affect their salaries.
‘We have also learnt that some teachers clock in and concentrate on other things within the school without actually entering the classroom and later clock out in the evening, which may defeat the objective of introducing that electronic system,” Ms Rujuna added.
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