Lira City to demote headteachers over poor results

Lira City’s education officer has put a target for all headteachers, advising them to perform.

By Ceasar Okello

Lira – February 15, 2022: Lira City Council has vowed to demote primary school headteachers whose schools will fail to get first grades.

Jasper Abura is the Principal Education Officer of Lira City. He said some headteachers are not playing their role administratively, hence deteriorating performance.

He was on Sunday speaking during a welcome prayer for the incoming students at Leo Atubo College, Lira City East.

Leo Atubo College is a secondary school belonging to former Lands Minister, Daniel Omara Atubo.

Abura, that day, said headteachers who may fail to produce candidates in Division One risk being demoted and taken back to classroom teaching.

“There is no way pupils can not pass when teachers completed Syllabus and curriculum,” he added.

“This year I am not going to be easy with such headteachers because they are eating government money for free,” Abura announced.

The Director of Leo Atubo College, Daniel Omara Atubo promised to bring back the glory of getting more first grade at Leo Atubo.

Atubo blamed past teachers for the decline in academic performance at Leo.

The former minister expressed concern, saying some teachers want to be paid without work.

About the decline in enrollment, Atubo said it is better to have a few students and have a good outcome than having thousands of students and the performance is zero.

Rev Fr Michael Oguzu Aridru of Comboni Missionary Heart of Jesus who led the prayers to welcome students appealed to learners to trust God if at all they are to achieve in their education.

Fr Oguzu also asked parents and teachers to always advocate for girl child education in the region.

“Many girls in Northern Uganda do not study higher but most of them stop in secondary,” he said.

He also expressed his annoyance that many girls of school-going ages are being married off before reaching higher education.