Teachers will at last have a sigh of relief as Government last week announced that it has allocated 150 billion shillings for salary enhancement. This fraction has been earmarked for primary school teachers and lecturers in public universities. This is a step in the right direction especially for the learners who will mostly gain from the teachers’ boosted morale this increment is likely to cause.
Mary Aacha, a researcher from Makerere University College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in her study on motivation and the performance of primary school teachers in Uganda stated that;
“In order to improve teacher motivation and performance at work, there should be increase in salary of primary teachers to match the increased cost of living, provision of accommodation to teachers, strengthening of supervision as well as instituting awards for good performance.”
According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2014), any education system is as good as its teachers because teachers are the most influential in respect to student learning achievement.
Teachers under their umbrella, Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) in May staged a six-day strike decrying low salaries. They demanded that Government at least allocates them 50 per cent (Shs 251bn) of the Shs 502bn they had prior demanded. Prior meetings by UNATU and stakeholders from the Ministries of Finance and Education had been futile until the President addressed their issues that they called off the strike.
Last week, Minister for Public Service Muluri Mukasa announced that Government has allocated 150 billion shillings for salary enhancement of primary school teachers and lecturers in public universities. He said the money was got from different agencies, ministries and departments’ planned expenditure on staff training, conferences, maintenance of vehicles, and scholastic materials.
“We have felt that we should make cuts to raise enough money for pay enhancement. This is a sacrifice that Government should take,” he said.
He said the increment will be effective October in the second quarter of financial year 2019/20. Of the 150 bn shillings, 135 bn will be allocated to primary school teachers and that the balance will be salary increment for lecturers and non-teaching staff in public universities.
Government should be hailed for retrospectively investing effort to boost teachers’ morale and confidence, an optimistic indicator that their overall demands across all institutions of learning will be addressed.
