At the beginning of 2023, the Ministry of Education and Sports rolled out a new smartphone-based inspection system, the Teachers Effectiveness and Learner Achievement (TELA) tool to curb absenteeism of Headteachers and teachers in public schools.

Ministry officials have begun conducting mass training for head teachers of primary and secondary schools in Hoima City and the district on the effective use of the new monitoring system.

Teacher absenteeism, which is rampant in rural areas, is one of the key factors responsible for poor learning outcomes and performance in rural schools. 

 Officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports convened a meeting of head teachers of government-owned secondary and primary schools from Hoima City and district to train them on how to use the smartphone-based application to curb teacher absenteeism.

The seminar was held at Duhaga Girls Primary School. 

Harriet Asiimwe, the Hoima District Inspector of Schools, said that they rolled out the phone-based monitoring system at the beginning of this academic year but teachers have encountered numerous challenges in using it. So the ministry saw the need to carry out more sensitization and training. 

According to the District Inspector of Schools, the Teachers Effectiveness and Learner Achievement (TELA) tool will help education officers easily monitor how teachers and school managers are doing their work. 

The time-on-task Performance Management System is designed to monitor the real-time attendance of head teachers and classroom teachers using a smartphone with Global Positioning System and Biometric features. The teachers assay this system is more efficient compared to the manual method that has been in the past. 

David Balikagira, a deputy head teacher of Kitana Primary School, has appealed to fellow teachers to embrace and use the system to better their performance. 

However, the system is likely to face challenges in areas where there is no internet network, poor phone connectivity, no electricity, and buying data, in case teachers want to use it, among other challenges.

The TELA system was launched by the Education Ministry in March 2023 to enhance teacher attendance and teaching in primary schools across the country, where teachers are monitored using a smartphone.

Ambrose