It is Monday morning and officials from the Ministry of Education have just arrived to license a new school. School owners are all cheers, with multi-million-dollar structures, dozens of newly hired school staff with district and local council officials gracing the occasion. The school was licensed and it is being officially opened to the public.

One hundred metres across the road, an angry headteacher has just fired 12 of his staff over alleged incompetence. The students are used to this practice and expect to have a new line up of staff the following term. In this school, teachers are hired with no appointment letters, or contracts. They are fired with neither warning nor terminal benefits. To be paid is a privilege and to be paid on time an honour.

The fired staff members of school B approach the officials who presided over the opening of the new school. The officials tell them it is not their mandate to intervene in private school matters. They refer the teachers to the regional labour office which covers five districts and has hundreds of files on its desk.

The teachers in question had not been paid for three months; their salary was sh60,000 per month. They had no social security accounts. They are diploma and degree holders and they have families to take care of. What is the fate of the teachers in this real life scenario honourable minister for Education?

Francis Ssempiira