Science teachers' 30% raise starts November

By Taddeo Bwambale

Science teachers in universities and post-primary institutions will start getting their 30% salary increment next month, the Ministry of Public Service has announced.

President Yoweri Museveni, in his State of the Nation Address, promised that sh250b would be set aside to cater for teachers’ salary increments.

The Government this year increased the salaries of all the public servants and soldiers in the 2012/2013 financial year, as part of efforts to improve their welfare.

Primary school teachers got a 15% increment, while science teachers in secondary schools and tertiary institutions got a 30% pay rise. Health workers were allocated 10% while other public officers were given varying percentages, which were in line with their salary scales.

Public service ministry spokesperson Jonas Tumwine explained that the delay to effect the pay rise was due to insufficient information provided by the education ministry on the number of science teachers countrywide.

Tumwine cited cases where names of beneficiaries submitted were not indicating their positions, showing them to be teaching sciences.

“If you show only that someone is a lecturer, how do we know that he or she is a science lecturer? For one to benefit from the 30%, we want to ensure that one studied sciences and that he or she is teaching science-related subjects,” he explained.

He, however, could not confirm whether the money to be paid to the teachers will include arrears from the month of July. The ministry’s pronouncement comes amidst an outcry from the teachers about the delay to receive the pay rise, nearly four months after the announcement.