Arts teachers give govt 90 days over pay rise

Uganda National Teachers' Union (UNATU) General Secretary, Mr Filbert Baguma makes a speech during a meeting between teachers and President Museveni at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala on July 4, 2022
What you need to know:
- Government insists enhancement of salaries will be done in a phased manner.
Teachers of humanities on government payroll have warned they will lay down their tools if their salary is not enhanced in the 2025/2026 Financial Year.
The teachers, under their umbrella Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers' Union (UPHTU), said it had become increasingly hard for them to continue teaching when their children can hardly access basic education.
Mr Godfrey Osenda, the union chairperson, told journalists in Kampala last Thursday that what they currently earn cannot sustain their families.
“We are not envious of science teachers, but we are saying we also have needs like them and conduct the same duration of lessons. We have given the government 90 days to come up with tangible solutions to enhance our salaries or else we lay down tools as required by the Constitution," Mr Osenda warned.
He added: “We are patriotic, but we have become a group of people the government is playing around with. It says
the economy has not recovered and yet other sectors are being enhanced. Does the economy fail to do well when it
comes to teachers of humanities?”
Speaking at the same event, Ms Teopista Akello,the acting president of UPHTU, criticised the government for freezing the salary enhancement plan.
“From 2018 to date, the said plan of enhancing Arts teachers’ salaries has remained static. We are here praying for
your intervention to ensure we are considered in the next financial year,’’ Ms Akello pleaded with the government.
She cited challenges the Arts teachers face while implementing the demanding new curriculum for lower secondary and called on the authorities to intervene and appreciate their contribution to the sector.
Ms Grace Mary Mugasa,the State Minister of Public Service, in reaction to the demands, said enhancement of salaries is a government initiative and it would be done in a phased manner.
Ms Mugisa said the 10-year pay plan was approved by Cabinet and the implementation of salary enhancement commenced with the science cadre category and security organisation.
“We have also put in money for the 2025/2026 budget for enhancement in a phased manner for the Arts category. We request that our dear teachers and all the Arts cadres remain calm and patient because salary enhancement is a commitment from the government, which will be implemented,” she said.
Ms Mugasa also reminded the teachers that during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, the government did not disappoint them as they continued earning full salaries.
In October last year, President Museveni,while presiding over a belated World Teachers Day celebration in Kampala, assured teachers that the government would continue investing in the country’s priority areas, amid scarce resources and requested those teaching the humanities to be patient.
The President told teachers that Uganda was implementing what he termed a strategy of priorities in the context of scarcity.
“Whatever one plans must be in the context in which it is. For example, one’s hairstyle depends on the shape of the head. If you have got a big head, the hairstyle will be similarly affected. Therefore, our plans depend on the capacity of Uganda,” the President told teachers, some of whom were eagerly waiting to hear his stand on the contentious salary enhancement for teachers of humanities,’Mr Museveni said.
He warned that it is a bad idea for planners to split resources into smaller portions, especially at the time when the country is striving to deal with the recovery of the economy and offering mass education, vaccination, access to electricity, and security for all, among other priorities.
Ms Janet Museveni, the First Lady, who doubles as the minister for Education and Sports, then echoed the President’s promise, saying the government is committed to improving the welfare of all employees in a phased manner.
“When that time comes for teachers of humanities, it will be an amount that is useful instead of giving a small piece
of the little that is available. If that was to be the case, the little that you would get will be meaningless to all of you,” she said.
But Mr Filbert Baguma, the general secretary of Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu), described the decision
by members of the Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers Union to strike as only formalising the action of a strike
that commenced in 2022.
“Teachers have been on a slowdown industrial action since 2022, when the government decided to discriminate the
teachers and other public servants. No Ugandan should expect effective service delivery because the government decided to use the method of divide and rule. People are not working as they are supposed to work,” Mr Baguma said.
He said discriminatory salary enhancement is the worst decision the government has ever made in terms of public services.
Background
In July 2022, the government approved a salary increment for science teachers that saw the pay of those with a degree increase from about Shs1.2m to Shs4m per month, compared to Shs900,000 that their counterparts teaching humanities earn.
This forced an estimated 120,000 Arts teachers in public schools to lay down their tools, contesting the discrepancy.
However, the strike was later called off after several meetings between Unatu leaders and a host of government officials, including President Museveni.