Lira teachers lay down tools after missing salaries for two months

Teachers in six government secondary schools in Lira City have laid down their tools over the failure by the government to pay them salaries for two-month.

The teachers are aggrieved by the fact that they have not been paid their salaries for the months of March and April.

They also said there is no sign that they will get the salary for May and June since there is a deficit of Shs3.7 billion which is needed to pay them for the four months.

Mr Edward Ayo, the coordinator of the aggrieved teachers, also a teacher at Lira Town College, said they wrote a petition to all the relevant authorities in regards to their salary arrears on April 20.

In that letter, the petitioners made it clear that if their salary arrears were not cleared, they would begin their sit-down strike on May 9 – the official beginning of the second term.

Currently, teachers in Lira City who are paid by the government are not entering class.

“We have 52 schools out of which six are secondary. So, in all the secondary schools in the city, teachers are not entering class not until our salaries are paid,” Mr Ayo told Monitor on Tuesday.

“There are those who last got salaries in January but all did not get for March and April, and there is no even sign that they will get salaries for May and June because the budget for the education department is exhausted,” he added.

Mr Jasper Abura, the Lira City principal education officer, confirmed that at least 1,200 teachers both in primary and secondary government-aided schools in the area have stayed without receiving their salaries for two months.

He attributed this to less money being sent from the Ministry of Finance for the payment of the teachers.

“You know 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 to pay the teachers’ salaries,” Mr Abura said.

Mr Patrick Okwir, the speaker of Lira City Council, warned that the issue of teacher’s salary if not addressed would have a negative effect on children’s learning.

Ms Christine Ayoo, a teacher at Comboni College, said for all this time her life has been so miserable because teachers earn meager pay and cannot pay school fees in good schools or feed their families.

“This is now my fourth month without any salary. Feeding has become a problem, I don’t have money for putting fuel in my motorcycle to travel from Lira City where I reside to Comboni College,” she said.

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