Gulu today began an evaluation of the performance of all primary school headteachers in the district.
The two-week long exercise is meant to evaluate the performance of primary school heads who are in turn expected to monitor the performance of their teachers.
Announcing the beginning of the exercise on Friday morning in Gulu, the district Inspector of Schools Robinson Oboth, said the exercise is national but it’s the first of its kind to be carried out in Gulu.
The exercise, according to Oboth, is meant to improve the performance in primary schools in Gulu which have over the years been poor.
The poor performance has been blamed on many factors including absenteeism from school by the teachers, inconsistency in following of the syllabus, students’ absenteeism, poor relationship between the teachers and students on one hand and between the teaching staff and parents on the other.
The Inspector of schools said the outcome of the evaluation will be shared with teachers, parents and teachers associations, school board members, the ministry of education and parents, among other stakeholders.
The office of the District Education Officer is meant to inspect schools, but in the case of Gulu, like for many other districts in the country, the offices are underfunded and lack the means to regularly inspect schools within their jurisdictions.
Northern Uganda’s infrastructure, including schools were destroyed during the more than two-decade long conflict between the Uganda government and the rebel Lords Resistance Army(LRA).
By Shilla Lanyero
