Teachers’ payrise for next year

Sep 12, 2011

THE Government has made a commitment to increase teachers’ salary by 15% next financial year.

By Moses Walubiri and Henry Sekanjako

THE Government has made a commitment to increase teachers’ salary by 15% next financial year.

The Government says it is not able to increase the teachers’ salaries this year due a constrained resource envelope.

The Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) called off the strike on Saturday, urging members to resume teaching today.

The union observed that since the Government had promised a salary increment in July next year, it was time to get back to work.

During a debate of the budget committee report at Parliament on Friday, the Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, said the Government had learnt lessons from selectively giving different civil servants salary increments.

“No one can doubt the Government’s concerns about the need to raise teachers’ salaries, but we are financially constrained,” the premier said.

Mbabazi said a 20% salary increment for primary school teachers would require an additional sh172.5b and a 100% increment would require sh840.4b.

Mbabazi said the Government had come up with a new policy against selective increment of salaries.

He allayed MPs fears that giving teachers a salary increment would affect universal promary and secondary education.

“The scrapping of UPE and USE programmes is not in government plans,” Mbabazi said.

A number of MPs, however, expressed fears that forcing demotivated teachers to teach would affect the quality of education.

“What kind of education are these poorly-paid, demotivated teachers giving to our children?” Richard Todwong asked.

However, some MPs expressed concern over the budget committee for not taking the issue of teachers salary increment as serious.

The committee was tasked to identify wasteful expenditures in the budget and recommend re-allocations

Makindye west MP Hussein Kyanjo said money allocated to government projects like the patriotic clubs could be cut to provide for the teachers’ salary increment.

Nathan Nandala Mafabi suggested the sh4.5bn allocated towards the running of barazas be diverted to cater for teachers salaries .

“We should have these monies extended to teachers’ salaries, we don’t need these barazas,” he said .

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