NCDC urges govt to deploy Kiswahili teachers

The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has appealed to the government to deploy over 68,000 teachers who graduated in teaching Kiswahili, but are currently idle due to the delayed implementation of Kiswahili in schools.

Perpetua Arinaitwe, senior curriculum specialist in charge of Kiswahili at NCDC, made the call while appearing before Parliament's Committee of Gender, Labour and Social Development to discuss the Uganda National Kiswahili Council Bill 2023.

"We have trained over 68,000 teachers to teach Kiswahili, but they are not being utilized due to the delay in fully operationalizing the teaching of Kiswahili in primary and secondary schools," Arinaitwe said.

In June, Kiswahili teachers were left fuming after the government excluded them from recruitment exercise.

The May 28 decision saw the Ministry of Education and Sports move to recruit a total of 598 administrative and teacher staff in the 46 grant-aided schools for the Financial Year 2023/24.

But the lot only catered for the recruitment of English, Mathematics, History, Physics , Geography and Biology for bachelor holders and four slots for Fine Art, Christian Religious Education, Agriculture/Technical Drawing and Chemistry for Assistant Education officers (diploma holders).

This has angered Kiswahili teachers who said it is geared towards keeping a significant number of their graduates unemployed anywhere amidst efforts by East African states to use Swahili as a means of communication.

"According to the CHAKITAU data base, as of April 2024, there are over 2,500 qualified secondary school teachers who are unemployed in Uganda," Boaz Mutungi, president of the Uganda National Kiswahili Association, also known as Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa Uganda (CHAKITAU), said.

"It is equally quantifiable that over 80,000 primary school teachers who studied Kiswahili as a core and professional subject in PTCs between 2013 and 2021 have never been utilised to teach Kiswahili in primary schools."Arinaitwe emphasised the importance of deploying these teachers to promote the language and culture.

The teachers say the continued decision to overlook them suspicions about the teaching of Kiswahili as a compulsory subject in the New Lower Secondary School Curriculum implementation guidelines.

"Kiswahili is a key language for regional integration and economic development. We need to prioritize its implementation in our education system," she said.

The NCDC's appeal comes as the government considers the Uganda National Kiswahili Council Bill 2023, which aims to promote the language and establish a council to oversee its development."