Muyingo Updates Parliament on Progress of Seed Secondary Schools as Teacher Recruitment Faces Funding Constraints
By Skika Reporter.
State Minister for Higher Education, Hon. John Chrysostom Muyingo, has appeared before Parliament’s Education Committee to update Members of Parliament on the progress of the government’s Seed Secondary Schools programme, highlighting significant strides in expanding access to secondary education while acknowledging persistent challenges in teacher recruitment.
The minister’s briefing comes as the Education Service Commission (ESC) confirmed that although 5,332 teachers were certified fit for government employment following oral interviews for positions at 43 newly established government secondary schools, only 1,333 vacancies are available due to wage bill limitations.
According to the ESC, 6,665 candidates sat the interviews, with nearly 80 per cent qualifying for appointment.
However, only a fraction will be absorbed into public service, leaving about 4,000 qualified teachers without jobs despite the country’s severe teacher shortage.
ESC Secretary Dr. Asuman Lukwago said recruitment is determined by the education ministry’s approved wage bill rather than the actual staffing needs in schools.
He noted that this year’s candidates demonstrated stronger performance than previous cohorts and encouraged unsuccessful applicants to reapply when future vacancies are advertised.
The teacher recruitment challenge contrasts sharply with the country’s growing demand for educators.
The 2025 State of Human Resource in Public Service Report indicates that Uganda has 87,080 vacant teaching positions, while other estimates place the total shortage in primary and secondary schools at more than 100,000 teachers.
A joint Government of Uganda–World Bank Human Capital Development and Growth Review 2025 projects that by 2040, Uganda will require approximately 360,000 additional teachers, alongside a 440 percent increase in the education budget, more classrooms, and expanded learning materials to meet the needs of the country’s rapidly growing population.
Teachers’ representatives argue that the latest recruitment exercise demonstrates that Uganda has enough qualified graduates but lacks adequate funding to employ them.
Aaron Mugaiga, Secretary General of the Uganda Professional Science Teachers’ Union (UPSTU), called on the government to prioritise filling vacancies in existing schools, particularly for science teachers, as enrolment in science subjects continues to rise under the new lower secondary curriculum.
Meanwhile, Hon. Muyingo informed MPs that the government has made substantial progress in implementing the World Bank-funded Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme (UGIFT), under which 259 Seed Secondary Schools are being constructed in sub-counties that previously lacked government secondary schools.
He said 210 schools are already operational, while the remaining 49 schools are expected to be completed and handed over by the end of the 2025/2026 financial year, following the release of a Shs70 billion supplementary budget that revived previously stalled construction works.
Each Seed Secondary School has the capacity to accommodate up to 1,500 learners, significantly expanding access to Universal Secondary Education. The government recently increased the capitation grant to Shs165,000 per O-Level learner and Shs270,000 per A-Level learner to improve service delivery in public schools.
Uganda currently operates 1,524 government secondary schools serving about 1.3 million learners, with all but 99 schools offering Universal Secondary Education.
The Education Committee is expected to continue scrutinising the implementation of the Seed Secondary Schools programme, particularly teacher staffing and operational readiness, as the government works towards ensuring every sub-county has access to a government secondary school
