Last Updated on: 14th June 2023, 06:48 pm
More than 90 teachers in Oyam district lose jobs over false academic papers
Oyam, June 14, 2023: Over 90 teachers in Oyam district are about to lose their jobs after having enrolled into the profession using false academic documents.
The affected teachers include both head teachers and class teachers from primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
The anomalies were found during the ongoing validation exercise taking place countrywide.
Early this year, the Ministry of Finance ordered the Auditor-General to conduct a comprehensive audit of the government payroll to determine the exact number of civil servants and the correct salary structures.
William Komakech, the Oyam Resident District Commissioner (RDC), confirmed the development, saying the education service commission in Oyam district discovered 94 teachers.
“These ghost teachers falsely got into the district payroll using forged academic papers from Nasser Road Kampala,” Komakech said.
Komakech noted that these teachers have officially been laid off since their act jeopardises the development of the district regarding service delivery.
Speaking to TND News, Oyam district LC5 chairman, Benson Walter Dila said that the operation will further investigate the circumstances under which these teachers got their way into the district payroll
According to Dila, the exercise carried out is to validate the academic documents of the teachers, and how they were recruited and posted, among others.
Rev. James Awany, the head of chairpersons of the district service commissions in Uganda, called upon all service commissions within Lango sub-region to verify all documents, especially academic and professional documents to ensure that they conform to what the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) requires.
“Before, even when they are carrying out the selection in the nine districts and one city, make sure all documents conform to the NCHE, recognized higher institutions as of January 2023,” said Awany.
He equally appealed to all candidates hoping to apply for jobs in the district to portray patience since recruitment takes steps of fact-checking during shortlisting.
The education sector, which employs the majority of public servants, has been particularly affected as it has been unable to deploy 4,000 teachers recruited by the education service commissions since last year due to the lack of funds.
Now, available data shows that the government spends shs7.3 billion annually on salaries paid to unscrupulous teachers who do not exist.