The Ugandan government will recruit 1,457 teaching and support staff for 47 recently constructed “seed” secondary schools across the country.
The Ministry of Local Government directed chief administrative officers to secure the conditional wage allocations provided in the current financial year, 2025-2026, to ensure the newly recruited personnel can be added to the payroll promptly.
The recruitment process is expected to begin by the end of the year.
The staffing drive is a scaled-down version of an earlier plan by the Ministry of Education and Sports, which had initially requested the Ministry of Public Service to recruit staff for 74 seed schools. These schools were constructed under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Program, known as UgIFT.
According to a Dec. 2 letter from the Local Government ministry, the Education ministry faced challenges deploying personnel in the second phase of the UgIFT program. The difficulties stemmed from reported wage shortfalls after some local governments diverted conditional wage allocations to cover other internal budget shortfalls.
“Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Sports has now granted clearance to proceed with the recruitment of staff for 47 seed schools in the financial year 2025-2026,” the letter, signed by Haji Kaliphan Sewante on behalf of the ministry’s permanent secretary, stated.
The letter urged local government officials to safeguard the allocated conditional wage funds to facilitate the timely payment of the new staff.
The Education Advocacy Network executive director, Patrick Kaboyo, welcomed the recruitment, calling it a timely move that will help address unemployment.
Kaboyo, who is also the national secretary of the Federation of Non-State Education Institutions, stressed that the Education Service Commission should prioritize teachers who have been working in these community-run schools prior to their transition into government-aided seed schools.
“Those who have been running some of these schools before they got coded should be given priority,” Kaboyo said, adding that shortlisting these educators for interviews would recognize their efforts.
Kaboyo also called for an intentional recruitment strategy that includes provisions for staff to upgrade their qualifications through further studies.
About the UgIFT Program
The UgIFT program is a World Bank-funded initiative designed to enhance local government service delivery in the health, education, and water sectors across Uganda.
In the education sector, the program has financed the construction of secondary schools in sub-counties that previously lacked a government-aided institution. This effort is aimed at improving access to quality education, especially in underserved regions.
