Mr Moses Chuna Kapolon the Yumbe chief Administrative Officer. The CAO has vowed to take disciplinary action against indiscipline teachers. PHOTO BY ROBERT ELEMA 
 
BY ROBERT ELEMA
 
YUMBE

The recent transfers done for the primary teachers in Yumbe district has left alot of staffing gaps in some of the schools in the district. Yumbe district transfered over 330 classroom teachers and the headteachers with the aim of improving the performance in the schools.
 
Speaking to Radio Pacis on Wednesday, Mr Robert Angoliga, the headteacher of Kumia Primary school in Odravu subcounty said, the school has only four teachers managing classes from P1-P7.
 
"The school has an enrollment of 724 learners but these number is being managed by only four teachers including me as the headteacher. Two teachers were transfered from Kumia Primary school but was replaced with one teacher and the way about of this teacher is not known," he said.
 
"Three of the teachers didn't attend validation exercise last year including the former headteacher and their names went off payroll and to make it worse, we don't have a female teacher to manage the issue of girls so, the girls are just there but it's the male teachers helping them," he added.
 
Mr Angoliga said, there is no effective teaching and learning taking place in the school and when some teachers are absent, you will find the learners loitering outside.
 
"The workload on the teachers is too much like as the headteacher, I am handling four subjects in different classes and yet I have administrative roles to play and that some of the teachers even teach five subjects in different classes," Mr Angoliga added.
 Mr Angoliga said, he wrote a letter to notify the office of the Chief Administrative Officer about the challenges in the in the school but no response has been given.

Meanwhile in Kilaji primary school the headteacher of the school, Mr Robert Atama, said there are also four teachers in the school including the headteacher. He said, three teachers from the school were transferred and replacement was made with two teachers but up to now the teachers have not yet reported to the new work station.
 
Mr Atama added that, one other female teacher is sick since 2022 and has applied for sick leave and of the current four teachers, one other teacher is set to retire this year and if some teacher are not posted, the school will be left with only three teachers. "Our enrollment is 682 learners and the classes are from P1-P7. The four teachers rotate in all the classes but some subjects are not being taught due to lack of man power especially subjects like Mathematics and Science," he said.
 
"Imagine as the headteacher, i teach classes from P2-P7.  At Least in a day, a teacher must handle four classes and this created alot of work on us so, the four teachers can't manage to teach all the subjects," he added. He said, there are many schools facing such challenges as if such schools are not government institutions and that Yumbe district education department should come and advice them on what to do other than leaving the few teachers on ground to suffer like that.
 
Mr Moses Chuna Kapolon, the Chief Administrative Officer said, transfers are normal and lawful and that they took a decision to transfer teachers to improve service delivery and performance of the primary schools. "It's indiscipline for any teacher not to report to the duty stations where they have being posted and soon once i get formal written report from those headteachers of the teachers who haven't s, I will take disciplinary action on those teachers," Mr Chuna warned.
 
"It's a must for the teachers to report to their new stations otherwise they will be declared abscontee teachers and we will take the necessary disciplinary procedures on them. My team is about to move out very soon to find out teachers who haven't reported to their new stations and will be subjected for disciplinary action," he added.
 
He said, the appointment letters the teachers received had a paragraph that says, you(teachers) will be transferred when occasion demands to serve in any part of the district so, the teachers should comply and go to their new duty stations.