Generally, the importance of Human Resources Management to the success or failure of health and education systems has been overlooked.
However, there is growing recognition that a refocus on Human Resource policy and management has to be at the core of any sustainable solution to system performance. This recognition is partly a result of the need to upscale capacity in health and education systems to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
Effective Human Resources Management strategies can ensure a well-motivated and appropriately skilled and deployed workforce. This is greatly needed to achieve better outcomes from health and education services around the world, and will improve access to these services. It should be at the core of any sustainable solution to guarantee the right to quality education and health.
Many general human resources issues in the health and education sector are known: the size, composition and distribution of the healthcare and education workforce, workforce training issues, the migration of health workers, the level of economic development and sociodemographic, geographical and cultural factors.
Uganda has such issues too. Health workers in Uganda are under high work pressure. For some positions the numbers are dramatic. In public health facilities, only 27% of the positions for anaesthetic officers are filled, for pharmacists the number stands at 40%. High pressure, low wages, and a lack of opportunities for continuous learning, result in staff losing motivation.
The overall lack of adequate supervision and support is a serious stumbling block on the way to universal quality care. Although the context is sector-specific, the HR situation in the education sector faces similar challenges.