Sh20b set aside for private school teachers
“We have waited. Our colleagues have been asking about the status of these funds. The COVID-19 pandemic affected us most since we were out of employment due to the closure of schools,” Etiang said.
Teachers in a meeting called by National Private School Teachers’ Association (NAPSTA), at the Mpigi district education department to inform them about COVID-19 relief fund in August 2021. (File Photos)
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
____________________ Matia Kasaija, the minister of finance, planning and economic development Peter Mujuni
After four years of lobbying for a post-COVID-19 new lease of life, Government has set aside sh20b for teachers attached to private schools, across the country.
The kitty, which will trickle into pockets of teachers from July 2024, is a pledge that President Yoweri Museveni made during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which left many schools closed.
The private teacher’s funds are part of the sh100b block fund that Parliament approved last week under the sh72 trillion budget for the 2024/2025 financial year that was passed by Parliament last week.
MPs described the private teachers’ fund as a critical resource that will boost the household incomes of teachers who faced financial constraints when they lost their jobs during the COVID-19-related lockdown.
The private teachers’ fund, MPs added, will also buttress their quest to develop micro-enterprises to supplement their teaching jobs' meagre salaries.
The other fund that private teachers can tap into, MPs said, is the sh1 trillion under the Parish Development Model (PDM) program, a financial inclusion pillar that Museveni launched in February 2022.
According to the budget estimates, the Emyooga Saccos will receive sh100b, of which sh20b will go to private school teacher's Saccos.
The funds will be accessed through the Micro-Finance Support Centre (MSC). MSC will manage the fund on behalf of teachers. The private teachers’ Saccos will apply for the money directly from MSC.
Private school teachers
Paul Etiang, the national chairperson of the National Private School Teachers’ Association (NAPSTA) welcomed the development, saying by availing these funds, the Government has put a smile on the face of many teachers.
Etiang explained that they have held several meetings with the education and finance ministries on the subject.
The recent one, he said, committed that the funds would be accessed through the MSC.
“We have waited. Our colleagues have been asking about the status of these funds. The COVID-19 pandemic affected us most since we were out of employment due to the closure of schools,” he said.
“We want to thank the government for fulfilling its promise. We will encourage our colleagues to take up these opportunities,” he added.
When schools closed over the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of teachers resorted to odd jobs, especially brick-making, riding boda bodas, and managing food stalls.
Unlike their counterparts attached to government-aided schools who continued to earn salaries despite the closure of schools during the COVID-19 lockdown, private school teachers were left to the vagaries of the economy.
The general secretary of the Coalition of Private School Teachers Associations and Unions (CPSTA&U), Mudi Kangave, who is also the national chairperson of the Private Teacher’s Platform Uganda (PTPU), also welcomed the allocation and inclusion of the private teachers’ kitty in budget.
However, he proposed that the criteria used to map out beneficiaries should be restricted to active teachers with valid contracts with private schools and not those who abandoned teaching many years ago.
Kangave also argued that only qualified teachers with registered and active practising certificates should be allowed to access the fund.
“Only active teachers, and teaching now in private schools should be allowed to access the funds. We understand some left the profession, and therefore, it will be unfair for them to come and access the same funding,” he said, adding it should be open to every teacher because some have been out of the profession for over a decade.
Teachers already on the government payroll, Kangave added, should not even think about the sh20b fund because, during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Government never froze their salary payment.
Yet for some teachers, the rationale behind the relief was to cater for teachers that were buttered by COVID-19 lockdown challenges. Some have since left the profession. Others were laid off by private schools that could not sustain operations after the COVID-19 lockdown.
There is also an argument that access should be opened to capture teachers who are not registered with Saccos.
However, to access the fund, a teacher must be registered with Saccos because MSC does not give money to individuals.
What caused the delay?
During the 2022 national celebrations for the World Teachers’ Day at Kololo Independence Grounds, the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, explained the cause of the delay for the teachers in private schools to access the funds.
The First Lady entirely blamed it on the disorganisation among private school associations, who had failed to find a common ground to access the funds.
Despite several engagements with the different heads of private school associations, Mrs Museveni explained that the groups did not agree on the management of the funds.
“Regarding the sh20b private school teacher’s funds, the problem is neither the education nor the finance ministries, but the private school teachers themselves,” she said.
The First Lady: “I sat with the different groups on how they could manage the funds, but they failed to agree. The problem is the teachers ‘groups themselves.”
When the President pledged, at least eight groups came up.
However, the education ministry said they were not representative enough since they were mainly in urban areas, especially Kampala.
Subsequently, the government through the education ministry facilitated the establishment of an apex body for private school teachers dubbed the National Private Schools Teachers' Association (NAPSTA).
However, this too was opposed by the existing groups.
Despite the differences that had emerged within the organisations of private teachers, last year, the finance ministry assured the First Lady that funds for teachers in private schools would be secured this year.
In his letter dated August 4, 2023, the finance minister, Matia Kasaija, informed the First Lady that the funds would be sent to MSC for proper accountability and management.
“My ministry takes note of the negative effects that impacted teachers in private schools as a result of the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in the same regard takes cognizance of the need to avail the above funds in fulfillment of the Presidential Pledge towards support to Private teacher’s SACCOs,” Kasaija said in his letter to the First Lady.
Kasiaja was responding to the First Lady’s letter dated July 7, 2023, requesting for the release of sh20b.
Micro-finance speaks out
When contacted, John Peter Mujuni, the executive director of MSC confirmed that there have been several meetings held with both the finance and education ministries as well as the teachers themselves regarding the sh20b.
He also confirmed that he had received a letter from the finance ministry, indicating that the funds would be sent to them, as a supplementary.
However, if it is to come as a part of Emyooga Funds, he said, the MSC will consult the relevant authorities including the President on whether a new category for teachers would be included as recipients of Emyooga.
“As MSC, we are ready to facilitate teachers to access the funds having handled similar exercises such as Emyooga. When the funds come, we will be ready to manage,” he said.
“On the funds coming as part of Emyooga, we will need further guidance and consultation. The President defined Emyooga and the target 18 categories. So, if it requires adding teachers, we would then consult,” he said.
The 18 categories of Emyooga include Boda Boda riders, taxi drivers, restaurant operators, welders, market vendors, journalists, carpenters, salon operators, tailors, and mechanics, among others.