By Ambrose Gahene
Kampala, Uganda–The International Teacher Education Conference (ITEC) 2026, concluded on Friday with a call on teachers to embrace continuous skills development, especially in Artificial Intelligence (AI), modern pedagogy and information technology among others.
The call was made by various speakers during a three days pre- and main conference at Kampala Hotel Africana; from 30th September to 2nd October 2026.
The Conference, organized by the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) ran under the theme: “Teachers at the Heart of Reform: Transforming Teacher Education for Human Capital Development in the 21st Century”.
“Teachers standards should be uplifted to ensure they meet International demands required of them”, said Dr. Chrysostom Muyingo, the Acting Minister of Education and Sports, who was the Guest of Honor at the Conference.
Dr. Muyingo said the Government has put enough money in teachers through salary increase, to ensure teachers deliver in the classrooms. He added that his ministry has put in place education reforms to ensure students receive education required in the job market.
Professor Emer Ring, the keynote speaker from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland, lectured on Teachers at the Heart of Reform: International perspectives on teacher education reform and human capital development.
Using Ireland’s education system and experience, she called on participants and governments across the globe to endeavor to treat education skills development as a priority for public decisions.
“Personal responsibility and code of conduct is important for teachers to respect their profession”, she said. She reiterated the need for continuous teachers’ skills development, as a necessity and not a luxury.
During panel discussions, participants observed that; for a teacher to be motivated to work in hard to reach areas there should be a well streamlined policy for promotion, salary increment and other remunerations to avoid the risk of understaffing in schools.
The panel discussants observed that over public 300 schools in Uganda have no adequate teachers, adding that wages increment is needed to motivate teachers to love the profession.
Dr. Kedrace Turyagyenda, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Sports in her closing remarks, hailed participants for taking part in the conference deliberations and each participant’s personal input.
She said the lessons learned at the conference should be translated to meaningful actions to uplift the standard of education in Uganda and world over.
The conference brought together scholars, policymakers, teacher educators and practitioners to share research, experiences and perspectives on the transformation of teacher education.
“The conference seeks to contribute to dialogue on strengthening teacher education and its role in developing the human capital required for social and economic transformation”, said Professor Betty Akullu Ezati, UNITE Vive Chancellor, while addressing Journalists at the Uganda Media Centre prior to the conference.
Prof. Akullu said Teacher education is critical to the quality of education and the development of future generations. She added that; as education systems respond to new technologies, artificial intelligence, competence-based approaches, and inclusion and changing social and economic demands, teacher education must also evolve.
“ITEC 2026 provides an opportunity to bring together different perspectives and experiences to examine how teachers can be better prepared, supported and empowered to respond to these changes”, she added.
During the Media Centre Press Conference, Dr. Dennis Mugimba, Ministry of Education and Sports Head of Communications, said the Government through the Ministry of Education is to come up with higher education policy, to review the quality of education in tertiary institutions. He said his Ministry is committed to supporting teachers in both private and government aided schools, through training.
“There is a need to support teachers through continuous training in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital transformation”, he said.