Why teachers are seeking early retirement

The source further revealed that after paying the loan, the teachers eventually quit the profession and concentrate on the private businesses they started.
“But the arrangement is usually known by the head teachers and some officials in the district /city education department,”the source said.
One of the reasons the teachers are fronting for early retirement, according to sources, is salary discrepancies, which has demoralised the majority of them.

Officials in the education departments in the districts of Kabale, Rubanda and Kisoro say they are overwhelmed by the increasing number of teachers applying for early retirement.
Mr Moses Bwengye, the acting Kabale District education officer, said at least 50 primary school teachers have applied for early retirement, with a number of them complaining of poor pay, poor working conditions and advanced age.
“The rate at which primary school teachers are seeking early retirement is a potential threat to the education sector here if it’s not swiftly checked. Some claim the new teacher policy that requires them to have a bachelor’s degree by 2030 without increasing their salaries is annoying,”he said.

“Others claim they have reached an advanced age and argue that early retirement would help them get their packages which they can use to pay school fees for their children in secondary and tertiary institutions,” he added.

Mr Bwengye revealed that about six secondary school science teachers in the district have also applied for early retirement even though the government enhanced their salaries barely three years ago.

“During my interaction with some of them [teachers], they are considering doing business using their retirement packages, which are between Shs180m and Shs200m for a science teacher who currently earns Shs4m per month and their monthly pension salary will be ranging between Shs1.5m and Shs2m,” Mr Bwengye said.

He said teachers in the area are motivated by the Covid-19 lockdown experience where some engaged in businesses and found it more rewarding than teaching.

Since 2017, the government has been slightly increasing the salaries of scientists, including science teachers, with the recent one being 300 percent salary enhancement in the Financial Year 2022/2023.

Initially, all employees were being paid the same salaries before the health workers and others in sciencerelated courses had an increment in the financial years of 2017/2018 and 2022/2023, respectively.

Hiring teachers
While appearing before the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) on October 3, the Luweero Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Martine Yiga, acknowledged the challenge in some schools where science teachers now hire mercenaries to teach on their behalf.

“We have got information that some of the science teachers in the government secondary schools hire mercenaries to teach on their behalf as they engage in different businesses. We are investigating the allegations,” he said.

Mr Yiga said about 20 applications for early retirement get to his desk monthly. The government ban on recruitment has not been lifted and several schools are forced to hire teachers to fill the gaps. But the EOC secretary, Mr Nasser Mukwaya, advised head teachers to always seek the Ministry of Education approval for any recruitment.

The State Minister for Primary Education, Dr Moriku Kaducu, said they are still treating reports of some teachers seeking early retirement as rumours until the affected districts and schools officially communicate to the ministry.

“We also got some rumours but we can’t operate and take decisions basing on rumours, so it’s a matter we’re yet to get information about that issue and maybe we shall eventually find ways of addressing the challenge,”she said.
“The affected districts should inform the ministry about these cases so that we find solutions, that’s if at all the information is relevant,”she added.
The minister urged civil servants who studied humanities to learn to work within the available means until the government gets resources to enhance their salaries.

“It’s disappointing if it is true that even the science teachers are applying for early retirement simply because they expect a good sum of money as their pension with other benefits,” Minister Kaducu said.
The Ministry of Education spokesperson, Dr Denis Mugimba, said with the new biometric initiative, they can monitor the presence of teachers at school and in the classroom because the system uses face recognition and captures fingerprints.

“We simply hear such allegations that some science teachers hire mercenaries to teach as they concentrate on their personal businesses they started out of increased salaries but no evidence has been adduced implicating any teacher,”he said.

Ms Christine Nabukeera, the head teacher of Kyango Primary School in Kyotera District, said she has been forced to hire two teachers for upper classes to fill up a gap that has existed for nearly three years.

“We don’t have enough teachers for upper classes but due to the ban by the government and absence of a district service commission, they can’t recruit new teachers. This forced us to hire,”she said.

Pension benefits
Ms Babirye Kabanda, the chairperson of Greater Masaka Private School Owners Association, said she knows some science teachers who have decided to apply for early retirement so that they can get pension and start their own businesses.
“A science teacher is entitled to some good money in terms of pension; this has forced many to get early retirement, forcing school administrators to hire private teachers in order to fill the existing gaps,’’she said.

The Rubanda District Education Officer, Mr Francis Serununu, said a total of 30 primary school teachers have already applied for early retirement in the district.
“Four out of the many primary school teachers who have applied for early retirement have been cleared while others are still waiting,”he said.

Mr Serununu revealed that the biggest challenge his team is facing is supervising the demoralised teachers as a result of salary discrepancies.
“Paying teachers according to their academic qualifications would attract and retain them in the profession because some of them who have master’s degrees are still paid as Grade Three teachers,”Mr Serununu said.
Kisoro District Chief Administrative Officer Swaibu Baraba said three teachers have applied for early retirement, although not all of them are eligible.

“The new teacher policy that requires all teachers to have bachelor’s degrees should critically be reviewed before being implemented,”he said.
“The closure of primary teachers colleges and national teachers colleges may result in a shortage of teachers in the country amid salary discrepancies that are currently forcing many to seek early retirement. The education policy review commission should look into these issues,”he added.

Mr Elly Mucunguzi, the Rubanda District principal assistant secretary, proposed that the government always uses the bottom-up approach before rolling out reforms in the education sector for effective implementation.
“Incentives such as hard-to-reach allowances, provision of meals at school and re-introduction of the school facilities grant to improve the school infrastructure can attract and retain teachers in the education department,” Mr Mucunguzi said.
Although some teachers are applying for early retirement, Kabale Municipal Council has not reached the extent of hiring private teachers to fill the existing gaps, the principal education officer, Mr Grace Munyambabazi, said.

“Last financial year, seven teachers were granted early retirement and this financial year, the process of granting three teachers who applied for the same is underway. But we have not reached the level of hiring private teachers to replace those retiring because our teacher-pupil ratio is still okay,” he said.
Mr Adam Shaban, the Kanungu District education officer, said the hiring of private teachers in some public schools in the district is not connected to early retirement of teachers.
“In some government schools with more than 1,400 pupils, the school administrators have always hired private teachers to facilitate proper teaching and learning,”Mr Shaban said.

A Grade III teacher in one of the public primary schools in Kyotera District opined: “I’m currently 50 years old with three children studying at university, who need almost Shs5m per semester. I earn less than Shs500,000 per month and we are being told by the government to go back and acquire degrees, which I may personally not afford to pay for.”
Mr Anthony Magembe, the acting Rakai District education officer, confirmed that there are staffing gaps in most of the secondary schools.
“I propose that the government offers jobs to people who are natives of the respective districts where they work.
This will reduce the absenteeism of teachers in secondary schools,” he explained.

Mr Lawrence Ssekyondwa, the Kyotera District Education Officer, cited Nangoma Seed Secondary School, which is on an island near the Uganda-Tanzania border, where teachers don’t want to be posted.
“Most of the teachers posted at Nangoma SS decline to go there and we have had many issues with them.
Some are hard to trace and they have a feeling that since the district is not the one responsible for their recruitment, it is also difficult to dismiss them,”he said.

Delayed replacement
Ntoroko District chairperson William Kasoro expressed concern over the delay in replacing about 40 teachers who either retired or transferred services in the district. 
“Replacing civil servants, particularly teachers, is crucial. Some schools have limited staff, and replacing retired civil servants does not require clearance from the public service, but there is an unprecedented delay,” he said.
Rev Canon Agasha Muhwezi, the education secretary at Ankole Diocese, attributed the problem to the national teacher’s policy, which requires every teacher to have a degree without enough time to prepare.
“Since some teachers are of Grade Three level and they need to go for a diploma, then a degree, this will take them a long time. This is why they are asking for early retirement so that they can get their gratuity and become pensioners,” he said.

“In my view, the government needs to swiftly work out a programme to help the less qualified teachers who are required to upgrade,” he added. Mr Geresome Muhumuza, a teacher in Kyegegwa District, also holds the same opinion.
“Many teachers don’t have money, it will be a good if it is the government going to pay their tuition at universities,” he said.
Mr Christopher Semu Kugonza, the general secretary of the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) in Masindi Municipality, revealed that there is a shortage of 1,000 teachers in the district.

Businesses
“Some left before clocking the retirement age to look for other income-generating businesses. The point of concern is that there is a delay to replace those who left between January and June 2023, at least 215 teachers who were members of Unatu quit teaching in favour of other private businesses,” he said.

At Nyai Secondary School, there are 17 teachers against the government ceiling of 33. The head teacher, Mr Data Zubeir, said they are facing a teacher shortage, especially for major subjects such as Physical Education, Agriculture and Computer Science.
“So, what we have done is to have an agreement to recruit teachers and pay using collections we make locally and the money we pay is little, so these teachers do work at their own time,” he said.
Mr Wayi Dragamulai, the Koboko District Education Officer, said the required staff ceiling for the six government-aided secondary schools
is 192 but they only have 136. For the primary schools, the ceiling is 1,276 yet they have only 728 teachers.
Mr Williams Ahabwe, the Bushenyi District Education Officer, said they lack enough money to pay off retiring teachers.
“I have received more than 93 teachers seeking early retirement this financial year but we cannot process their retirement because we don’t have the money,” he said. 

The growing trend

The numbers
According to the latest State of Human Resource report, a total of 819 civil servants sought early retirement in Financial Year 2022/2023, up from 442 in 2020/2021.
The report shows that females who retired shot up from 213 in FY2020/2021 to 382 in FY2022/2023. Male retirees also soared from 230 to 443 in the same period.

The teachers constitute the biggest number of those who chose to quit, according to the report, with the teaching profession accounting for 690 out of the 91 civil servants who quit the public service in FY2022/2023.
Overall, the number of teachers who took early retirement increased from 382 in FY2020/2021 to 690 in FY2022/2023. Primary school teachers constituted the biggest number of retirees.
As of April 2024, the government had a total of 164,660 teachers on the payroll. Of these, 129,856 were in primary schools, while 34,804 were in secondary schools.

The law
According to the Public Service Standing Orders 2021, a pensionable public officer may retire early from public service per the Pension Act when he has attained 45 years and served for a continuous pensionable period of at least 10 years or has served for a continuous pensionable or redeemable period of at least 20 years.

However, a civil servant applying for early retirement has to forward the application to the Pensions Authority by the responsible officer.
Once the Pensions Authority has granted permission in writing for a civil servant to retire, the Public Service Standing Orders indicate that the responsible officer has to process the retirement benefits.

Compiled by Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Robert Muhereza, Naume Biira, Robert Muhereza, Nathan Bahangwa, Rashul Adidi, Alex Ashaba, Ismail Bategeka, Jovita Kyarisiima, Hillary Twinamatsiko, Dan Wandera and Felix Ainebyoona