Consider teachers’ unique backgrounds

A teacher attends to students in class recently

What you need to know:

The issue: Teachers’ salaries
Our view:  To retain sufficient teacher numbers and grow the profession, we must address the many inequalities in the setting of the Ugandan teacher. 

One of the sticking issues in the ongoing industrial action by Arts teachers countrywide is not merely low pay but the contention over unfair reward for effort in comparison to their colleagues who teach Sciences.
The argument for and against preferential treatment of scientists has gathered steam since the Cabinet resolution and Presidential directive last year to pay scientists better.
In a gloomy economic environment with high costs of living, Arts teachers rightly feel aggrieved that their needs have been set aside, especially as schools attempt to bounce back from the negative impact of the Covid-19 closure.

Beyond dividing teachers along one arbitrary line, there is an opportunity in this crisis to re-examine teachers’ unique pains which affect their ability.
A recent study titled “Be Well, Teach Well; Understanding the wellbeing of teachers in Uganda” by the University of Notre Dame, Save the Children in Uganda and Luigi Giussani Institution of Higher Education, highlights areas of concern as  interpersonal skills as well as settings and systems that allow teachers to succeed.

According to the National Teachers Policy 2019, at least 347,219 teachers are employed in public and private schools (EMIS, 2015). Government directly employs 266,290 teachers while the private sector directly employs 80,929 teachers. 
Authorities say at least five percent of teachers in government and private schools didn’t resume teaching when schools fully reopened in January. Close to a fifth of all locations where teachers serve are classified as hard-to-reach areas, with at least 21 districts included in that grouping in 2019.

A starting point to addressing teachers’ grievances may be to consider the teacher backgrounds and devise means of motivating them based on their unique circumstances such as urban versus rural settings, condition and availability of housing, conditions of work, teacher skills and access to information, among other things.
Teachers are dealing with overcrowded classes in some parts of the country, with some schools reporting an influx of new learners when schools reopened at the start of this year.

In March this year, we reported a school in Zombo District where 1700 pupils were being accommodated in 12 classrooms. These and more are the daily realities of the teaching profession. 
Motivating teachers across the country will involve more than a consideration of what subject one is trained to teach. To retain sufficient teacher numbers and grow the profession, we must address the many inequalities in the setting of the Ugandan teacher.