Dr Asuman Lukwago, the Secretary to the Education Service Commission, confirmed the happening but declined to share details of the applicant and how much money was found in the envelope. However, Dr Lukwago says that the applicant is a male Deputy Head Teacher from the central region who was applying for the post of headteacher.
The Education Service Commission
has uncovered ‘huge’ sums of money inserted in one of the application documents
submitted for one of the recently advertised job lots.
Available information indicates
that the panel headed by Rev Prof Dr Samuel Abimerech Luboga, was reviewing
applications for the posts of headteachers to shortlist suitable candidates
when this unprecedented and awkward situation befell them.
“It was a huge sum of money put
in an envelope together with other required documents and application forms.
Everyone on the panel was surprised, no one had ever seen this previously,” a
source at the commission who preferred anonymity told Uganda Radio Network.
Dr Asuman Lukwago, the Secretary
to the Education Service Commission, confirmed the happening but declined to
share details of the applicant and how much money was found in the envelope. However,
Dr Lukwago says that the applicant is a male Deputy Head Teacher from the
central region who was applying for the post of headteacher.
Lukwago says that after
discovering this ambiguity, the commission alerted police and immediately
called the applicant in question since the application form had his contact
details. After interrogating him, the
deputy headteacher explained that he unknowingly put the money in the envelope
that also had his application documents.
“He said that on the day of
filing his application he had a school board meeting and had arranged transport
refund for them. He says he could have erroneously placed his application in
one of the envelopes,” Lukwago narrated quoting the deputy headteacher. After the explanation, the applicant
was let off the hook and given back the ‘misplaced transport refund
//Cue in; “it was one incident…
Cue out…into the forms.”//
Although the commission says that they had never
seen an applicant slipping money together with his or her application, several teachers
who wish to get onto government payroll or receive promotions have often been
accused of bribing officers involved in the process.
There are cases of
teachers who have been duped by unscrupulous individuals to whom they pay hefty
sums of money to secure government appointments. To limit the corruption
tendencies in the process, the commission recently unveiled an e-electronic
system where all applications will be sent to limit physical interactions
between applicants and officers of the commission.
Meanwhile, Dr Lukwago says that
the commission has received over 32,000 applications for the 2,113 posts that
are available. Out of the said post 54 are for headteachers while 17 are
deputy headteachers.
“The commission has three weeks
to look at every application and shortlist the best candidates. for posts with
few applicants, interviews will start immediately while post with big numbers,
we will have to carry out aptitude tests to further reduce on the numbers,” he
added.
The secretary however warned that applicants
should desist from acts of bribing officers of the commission since
shortlisting and eventual appointments of personnel in the education service
are done on merit.
