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When the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) released the exam timetables on Monday, it also addressed a troubling question: how to stem the rampant examination malpractices. In a statement, Uneb urged all candidates to report directly to the board any invigilator, teacher or head teacher and other candidates involved in examination malpractice. The Uneb executive secretary stated that “The board reserves the right to declare publicly names of centres, candidates or anyone else who will have involved themselves in examination malpractice”.

After years of piling up paper files, the Education Service Commission (ESC) will soon phase out its manual operations and demand that applicants for a job in the sector resort to electronic applications. The move to electronic means will ease the commission's ability to detect forgeries in applications and employment records.

In a scam unearthed recently, for over 14 months, hundreds of public servants in Wakiso district in Uganda were receiving salaries many times higher than what they are entitled to under their grades. So far, 183 teachers have admitted to have benefitted from this payroll fraud amounting up to 2.3 billion Ugandan shillings.

The video reports that teachers had to play by new rules as the Education Service Commission, responsible for recruiting government teachers in Uganda, reviewed its rules and regulations after 20 years. While it addresses teacher promotion and the teacher-parent relationship, the main emphasis has been placed on teacher's behavior.

In a rural district of Uganda, almost half of all teachers were absent on a typical school day. The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) trained a few student leaders in each school to take attendance of everyone, including teachers. As a result, teacher absenteeism has dropped to ten percent in this district.

In the past, teachers were heroes and their profession was highly respected. But over the years, things have changed and the profession has become the last career resort for many students. The nation needs to go back to the drawing board in the training and recruitment of teachers, putting emphasis on ethics and professionalism.

Two of the most prestigious high school institutions are been blame of sending home earlier the children in order to save substantial utilities and teacher's allowances, of detaining children at school in holydays and of asking parents to pay fees twice in the same term.