"Uganda has over 15 million learners and only about 300,000 teachers. The pupil-to-teacher ratio is already 1:58 to 1:60 in many UPE schools, against the recommended 1:45. Closing dozens of colleges and keeping only a few centres will drastically cut annual output. This gap will never be closed if this arrangement is fast-tracked by government," Lubega said.

The government has been implementing the restructuring of teacher education through the establishment of UNITE and the transition from the previous college-based system. The reforms have included the phasing out of the traditional National Teachers Colleges and Primary Teachers Colleges as institutions for teacher training, with teacher education being reorganised under the new framework.