SHIMONI TO BECOME DEGREE-AWARDING TEACHERS INSTITUTE
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION The establishment of the Uganda National Institute of Teacher Education (UNTE) is part of the implementation of the recently approved National Teachers Policy
A classroom block at Shimoni Core Primary Teachers College in Kira Municipality, Wakiso district
Starting next year, Shimoni Core Primary Teachers College will serve as the Uganda National Institute of Teacher Education (UNTE), the education ministry has revealed.
As part of the implementation of the National Teachers Policy, all National Teachers Colleges (NTCs) and Primary Teachers Colleges (PTCs) will only admit Senior Six leavers and teachers with diplomas.
The UNTE (Shimoni) will be a degree-awarding institute for all teachers in the country, according to Dr Jane Egau-Okou, the commissioner for teacher education and instruction at the education ministry.
“Our plan is to have the UNTE next year. We are already implementing all the plans,” she said.
According to the plan, the traditional NTCs and PTCs (both public and private) will serve as degree awarding colleges affiliated to the UNTE.
Currently, NTCs train diploma secondary school teachers (Grade V), whereas PTCs have hitherto been training primary school teachers (Grade III).
Under the new arrangement, the education ministry says, these will handle degree students for their respective areas.
There are 46 public PTCs and 10 private ones spread across the country.
There are also five NTCs in Uganda: Unyama (Gulu), Mubende, Kabale, Kaliro and Muni (Arua). Both PTCs and NTCs will offer only degree courses.
However, they will not be independent degree-awarding institutions.
“The ministry has put the focus on skilling our learners, but this has to start with us the teachers. We are streamlining to have a standardised award for teachers in the country,”
Egau said.
“A degree will be the minimum standard for one to teach in the country, across all levels of education, including Early Childhood Centres.”
The move for teachers to have degrees is enshrined in the new guidelines for the National Teachers Policy that was approved by Cabinet in April last year.
The National Teachers Policy is hinged on the national policy legal framework, the 1992 White Paper on Education, the second National Development Plan (2015/16- 2020/21), the Uganda Vision 2040 and the Sustainable Development Goal 4.
The policy is also aimed at standardising teacher development, qualifications and practice across all levels of education.
In an interview last week, Alex Kakooza, the education ministry’s permanent secretary, said the ministry is undertaking several reforms aimed at producing a learner for the world of work. The reforms include streamlining teacher education and the business, technical, vocational education and training (BTVET).
“The plans are not only for teachers, but we will also establish a national technical university where BTVET students can enrol for continuity,” he said.
CONTINUING STUDENTS, TUTORS
According to the plan, only students with the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education and those with diplomas in education will be admitted, starting next year.
Egau-Okou told New Vision that the continuing students will be allowed to complete their respective courses, but they will be required to upgrade thereafter.
Those currently enrolled at Shimon Core PTC will either be relocated to other colleges or given time to complete alongside the transformation.
For the current tutors, she said, those with degrees who are in the minority, will be retrained to upgrade to master’s level.
“Most of our teacher trainers at these colleges have masters’ degrees. It is just a handful of them with undergraduate degrees,” she noted, According to education ministry statistics, there are 227 tutors at NTCs and 1,100 at the PTCs.
However, Egau-Okou explained that there are human resource gaps.
“We are currently recruiting tutors to fill the gaps. We need about 77 tutors at NTCs and 500 at PTCs,” she said.
CHOICE OF SHIMONI
According to Egau-Okou, Shimoni Core PTC was selected for many reasons, including its location. The college is located in Kitikifumba village in Kira municipality, Wakiso district.
The college is approximately 19km by road, northeast of Kampala.
The college has a primary s c h o o l attached to it:
Shimoni Demonstration School, where the trainee teachers practise and sharpen their teaching skills.
Egau-Okou said since its relocation, Shimoni Core PTC has seen the putting in place of physical infrastructural development and new equipment needed in teacher education.
In addition, Egau said, the college has enough land which gives room for expansion.
She revealed that there were two options when it comes to the new UNTE, either to construct a new one or to transform one of the existing colleges.
“With guidance from the ministry’s political heads, led by the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, we agreed to have Shimoni Core PTC as the UNTE,” she said.
At the moment, Egau-Okou said, the ministry is finalising agreements with the Shimon Core PTC board of directors to turn the college into a degree-awarding institute.
ENTRY INTO PTCS, NTCS
Entry requirements to PTCs and NTCs were recently tightened. Teacher training colleges will be open to only Senior Six leavers. As part of the requirements, two principal passes will be mandatory for any applicant.
Under the current arrangement, PTCs attract Senior Four leavers with at least two credits.
Initially, for one to enrol as a primary teacher trainee, the entry requirements included six passes, including English and mathematics.
The revised requirements, which were launched in 2017/2018 academic year, require a student to have attained credits in both English and mathematics, as well as two science subjects in three categories, that include agriculture principles and practices, biology science and physics or chemistry.
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY?
Kyambogo University has been serving as the mother higher institution of learning for PTCs and NTCs. However, with the transformation of Shimoni into the new UNTE, this responsibility will be relinquished.
Egau-Okou said Kyambogo was considered as the ideal UNTE, but it was noted that since it became a university in 2003, it had “somehow” discriminated against teachers from PTCs and NTCs.
Kyambogo University was established in 2003 by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act of 2001. It was a merger of three independent institutions: Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), Institute of Teacher Education-Kyambogo (ITEK) and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education. ITEK has been serving the purpose which Shimoni will take over starting next year.
However, Egau-Okou noted that Kyambogo will remain a player in formulating teachers curricular and other policies.
56 of the 56 PTCs in Uganda, 46 are public and 10 are private
As part of the implementation of the National Teachers Policy, all National Teachers Colleges (NTCs) and Primary Teachers Colleges (PTCs) will only admit Senior Six leavers and teachers with diplomas.
The UNTE (Shimoni) will be a degree-awarding institute for all teachers in the country, according to Dr Jane Egau-Okou, the commissioner for teacher education and instruction at the education ministry.
“Our plan is to have the UNTE next year. We are already implementing all the plans,” she said.
According to the plan, the traditional NTCs and PTCs (both public and private) will serve as degree awarding colleges affiliated to the UNTE.
Currently, NTCs train diploma secondary school teachers (Grade V), whereas PTCs have hitherto been training primary school teachers (Grade III).
Under the new arrangement, the education ministry says, these will handle degree students for their respective areas.
There are 46 public PTCs and 10 private ones spread across the country.
There are also five NTCs in Uganda: Unyama (Gulu), Mubende, Kabale, Kaliro and Muni (Arua). Both PTCs and NTCs will offer only degree courses.
However, they will not be independent degree-awarding institutions.
“The ministry has put the focus on skilling our learners, but this has to start with us the teachers. We are streamlining to have a standardised award for teachers in the country,”
Egau said.
“A degree will be the minimum standard for one to teach in the country, across all levels of education, including Early Childhood Centres.”
The move for teachers to have degrees is enshrined in the new guidelines for the National Teachers Policy that was approved by Cabinet in April last year.
The National Teachers Policy is hinged on the national policy legal framework, the 1992 White Paper on Education, the second National Development Plan (2015/16- 2020/21), the Uganda Vision 2040 and the Sustainable Development Goal 4.
The policy is also aimed at standardising teacher development, qualifications and practice across all levels of education.
In an interview last week, Alex Kakooza, the education ministry’s permanent secretary, said the ministry is undertaking several reforms aimed at producing a learner for the world of work. The reforms include streamlining teacher education and the business, technical, vocational education and training (BTVET).
“The plans are not only for teachers, but we will also establish a national technical university where BTVET students can enrol for continuity,” he said.
CONTINUING STUDENTS, TUTORS
According to the plan, only students with the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education and those with diplomas in education will be admitted, starting next year.
Egau-Okou told New Vision that the continuing students will be allowed to complete their respective courses, but they will be required to upgrade thereafter.
Those currently enrolled at Shimon Core PTC will either be relocated to other colleges or given time to complete alongside the transformation.
For the current tutors, she said, those with degrees who are in the minority, will be retrained to upgrade to master’s level.
“Most of our teacher trainers at these colleges have masters’ degrees. It is just a handful of them with undergraduate degrees,” she noted, According to education ministry statistics, there are 227 tutors at NTCs and 1,100 at the PTCs.
However, Egau-Okou explained that there are human resource gaps.
“We are currently recruiting tutors to fill the gaps. We need about 77 tutors at NTCs and 500 at PTCs,” she said.
CHOICE OF SHIMONI
According to Egau-Okou, Shimoni Core PTC was selected for many reasons, including its location. The college is located in Kitikifumba village in Kira municipality, Wakiso district.
The college is approximately 19km by road, northeast of Kampala.
The college has a primary s c h o o l attached to it:
Shimoni Demonstration School, where the trainee teachers practise and sharpen their teaching skills.
Egau-Okou said since its relocation, Shimoni Core PTC has seen the putting in place of physical infrastructural development and new equipment needed in teacher education.
In addition, Egau said, the college has enough land which gives room for expansion.
She revealed that there were two options when it comes to the new UNTE, either to construct a new one or to transform one of the existing colleges.
“With guidance from the ministry’s political heads, led by the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, we agreed to have Shimoni Core PTC as the UNTE,” she said.
At the moment, Egau-Okou said, the ministry is finalising agreements with the Shimon Core PTC board of directors to turn the college into a degree-awarding institute.
ENTRY INTO PTCS, NTCS
Entry requirements to PTCs and NTCs were recently tightened. Teacher training colleges will be open to only Senior Six leavers. As part of the requirements, two principal passes will be mandatory for any applicant.
Under the current arrangement, PTCs attract Senior Four leavers with at least two credits.
Initially, for one to enrol as a primary teacher trainee, the entry requirements included six passes, including English and mathematics.
The revised requirements, which were launched in 2017/2018 academic year, require a student to have attained credits in both English and mathematics, as well as two science subjects in three categories, that include agriculture principles and practices, biology science and physics or chemistry.
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY?
Kyambogo University has been serving as the mother higher institution of learning for PTCs and NTCs. However, with the transformation of Shimoni into the new UNTE, this responsibility will be relinquished.
Egau-Okou said Kyambogo was considered as the ideal UNTE, but it was noted that since it became a university in 2003, it had “somehow” discriminated against teachers from PTCs and NTCs.
Kyambogo University was established in 2003 by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act of 2001. It was a merger of three independent institutions: Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), Institute of Teacher Education-Kyambogo (ITEK) and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education. ITEK has been serving the purpose which Shimoni will take over starting next year.
However, Egau-Okou noted that Kyambogo will remain a player in formulating teachers curricular and other policies.
56 of the 56 PTCs in Uganda, 46 are public and 10 are private