The Ministry of Education and sports introduced Teachers Effectiveness and Learners Achievements (TELA) morning technology to enable Head Teachers to monitor the performance and absenteeism of teachers in government schools.
According to the government, “TELA monitoring technology is a platform which enables information exchange between various stakeholders in the management of primary schools and secondary schools to ensure teachers’ details are electronically captured.”
The technology which is being piloted in Nebbi District is operated on mobile devices with an android operating system and will ensure teachers are monitored right from their arrival at school.
“The technology is expected to reduce the absenteeism of teachers as well as increase the performance of learners since it acts as a supervision and performance management tool,” Nebbi District Inspector of Schools, Mr. James Gwoktho observed.
Besides, the system has a task performance management module on smartphones with GPS and has biometric features designed to monitor real-time teacher or head teachers’ attendance and timetable implementation.
“That is good but if the head teachers connive with the teachers, the whole captured information on the system becomes fake and this calls for transparency by the head teachers who control the monitoring devices,” Gwoktho noted.
Nebbi education officials say the rate of absenteeism among teachers is high in the district but are optimistic that the technology intervention will increase teacher efficacy. “The immediate challenge we are seeing is that our head teachers may not be skilled to use the devices and there is a need for adequate training,” Gwoktho told our reporter.
Alex Ongieragiu, the head teacher of Kele Primary school in Erussi Sub County decried poor rural electrification as most upcountry schools aren’t connected to the national grid. “This makes it hard for them to charge the smartphones especially if the government does not provide solar-powered smartphones in rainy seasons,” he remarked. Erussi Sub county LC 3 chairperson Collins Oromchan urged the government to focus on rural electrification for proper implementation of such good plans.
BY AHUMUZA BILL