Lira teachers decline to return to class over pay

Teachers in Lira City have refused to return to class until all their salary arrears are cleared.

Since May 9, teachers in six government secondary and 46 primary schools in the city went on strike over failure by the government to clear their March and April salary arrears.

They also claimed that there is no indication that their May and June salaries will be paid since there is already a deficit of Shs3.7b, which is needed to pay 1,200 teachers – both primary and secondary – for the four months.

Mr Jasper Abura, the city principal education officer, attributed the situation to lack of enough funds.

“The Ministry of Finance had given us the money, which could not pay all the teachers for the whole financial year. So, we have a deficit of Shs3.7 billion,” Mr Abura said last week.

However, he said the ministry promised them that they would  present a supplementary budget before Parliament to solve the problem.

During a meeting last Thursday, the Resident City Commissioner, Mr Lawrence Egole, and the mayor, Mr Sam Atul, tried to persuade the teachers to return to class as they address their grievances but failed.

“The struggle still continues until city authorities pay our salaries. Even parents are urged not to send their children to school because there is no one who is going to teach them,”  the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) Lira City Council branch secretary, Mr Kenneth Robert Ogwok, told journalists after the negotiations collapsed.

He added: “We met the city council authorities concerning the delay of our salaries for three months and we resolved [that] we are not going back to class until our salaries are paid. I am urging all the teachers to stay home.”

Mr Edward Ayo, the coordinator of the affected teachers, said they have held various engagements with different education stakeholders but failed to agree on the matter.

“Today (May 19), we had another engagement with both the political and technical wings of Lira City Council. I want to reaffirm to our teachers and parents that we have not reached a conclusion,”  Mr Ayo said.

“The teachers are unable to attend to their duties not because that they don’t want, but they are incapacitated. They have no food for their families, they have no fuel for their transport and they do not have money to send their children to school. So, it is not easy as a teacher to attend to others when your home is not settled. Teaching needs a settled mind,” he added.

Regarding compensation for the lost time, Mr Ayo said teachers have all the modalities to recover it.

“ We had lost time during Covid-19 for about two years, we have covered that. This one is two weeks, which is very simple. We shall reassemble our system, then have lessons conducted even during night, morning and weekends so that we get the service they desire from us,” he said.

UNATU RESPONSE

In a May 17 letter, Mr Filbert Bates Baguma, Unatu general secretary, said the situation has been escalated by the prevailing economic situation where prices of commodities and services are increasing.  Mr Baguma said the Lira City teachers were suffering due to the laxity of responsible officers.

“Unatu officially brought this matter to the attention of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on April 25. The matter was further presented on the floor of Parliament as a matter of national importance on May 10 through our Workers MP, Ms Margaret Rwabushaija,” he said.

In response, Parliament referred the matter to the Minister of Finance and tasked him to report back.

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