KAMPALA — The Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has questioned bureaucratic delays in the confirmation of teachers, staffing shortages and the failure to fully constitute the Education Service Commission.
The concerns were raised on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, during an interface between COSASE, the Education Service Commission and the Ministry of Education and Sports over queries contained in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ended December 31, 2025.
COSASE Chairperson, Hon. Muwada Nkunyingi, said the committee’s scrutiny of the teacher recruitment process had revealed gaps between the appointment and confirmation of teachers.
“As we interrogated the process of appointment and confirmation of teachers, we realised that the chronology has the participation of the Education Service Commission but midway, the participation of the Ministry of Education,” Nkunyingi said.
He said that out of the 16,200 teachers targeted for recruitment during the period under review, 13,611 had been confirmed, leaving more than 3,600 appointed teachers whose confirmation was still pending.
Nkunyingi said the committee was concerned that the bureaucratic process of moving confirmation applications between schools, the ministry and the Education Service Commission was frustrating teachers and could create opportunities for fraudsters.
He explained that teachers recruited on probation are evaluated after six months, but their confirmation applications must pass through several stages before reaching the Education Service Commission.
The committee also questioned why the Education Service Commission remains incompletely constituted.
Nkunyingi cited Article 167 of the Constitution, which provides for a chairperson and six other members of the Commission, appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament.
He questioned the Commission’s Chairperson, Samuel Abimelech Luboga, over his appearance before the committee without other commissioners.
Luboga explained that some commissioners were away conducting recruitment interviews in Mbarara and Mbale. He said the Deputy Chairperson was in Mbarara with two other commissioners.
The committee, however, established that the positions of one Deputy Chairperson and one other member of the Commission had not been filled.
Nkunyingi asked the State Minister for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, to explain why the vacancies had not been filled.
“Prepare to tell us why there is no appointment for members of the Commission, because a fully constituted Commission would serve better the teachers and education sector,” Nkunyingi said.
Education sector faces 35% staffing gap
Ogwang acknowledged the committee’s concerns, particularly regarding staffing gaps, delayed confirmations and promotions.
He told the committee that the education sector currently has 188,118 staff against an approved establishment of 291,571, translating into a 65 per cent staffing level and a 35 per cent vacancy rate.
Ogwang attributed the staffing shortages largely to restrictions on recruitment and inadequate wage provisions.
“The above understaffing in the sector is explained by the restrictions that were imposed on recruitment and largely by the limited wage provisions,” he said.
He explained that recruitment across government was halted from the 2022/23 financial year to allow for a headcount following payroll irregularities exposed during an audit conducted in July 2022.
Ogwang said the Ministry of Education and Sports subsequently requested Shs69 billion between 2023 and 2025 to recruit critical staff needed to implement the competency-based curriculum, but the funding was not provided.
Ministry rejects blame for confirmation delays
On teacher confirmation, Ogwang said teachers initiate the process after completing six months on probation, following appraisal by head teachers and district education officers.
However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports, Kedrace Turyagenda, rejected suggestions that the ministry was responsible for delays in processing confirmation applications.
“Once it is done, the delay is basically at the school level, but as soon as it comes to us, we act expeditiously,” Turyagenda said.
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