Uganda: Educationists weigh in on impact of teacher's strike

A section of educationists have expressed sympathy with Senior Four candidates whose third-term lessons were disrupted by the ongoing arts teachers strike, warning that the situation could get out of hand, if government fails to adhere to the principle of equity.

Dr David Kabugo, the Acting Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Support (CTLS) at Makerere University, acknowledged that the strike, which commenced on October 15, has had a grave impact on candidates, teachers, parents, and the entire education sector.

"Some people could argue that by the time the teachers went on strike, schools had covered the syllabus, but learning is beyond content coverage," Dr. Kabugo said. "Learning is a whole social environment of the school. The absence of teachers has affected them psychologically, which is likely to affect their performance."

Dr Kabugo added that teachers are also affected, as they are not at ease while on strike.

"Professionally, they are attached to the students, and failure to support them during this critical moment is causing anxiety. Tension is also mounting among parents who have struggled to pay school fees yet children have not been able to cover the syllabus."

The strike has also taken a big toll on the supervision of the ongoing Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations. Dr. Kabugo disclosed that he saw headteachers lining up for exams at police stations, highlighting the uncertainty in the education system.

"I made a very significant observation this morning (Monday). By 9:00am, I saw some headteachers around some police stations lining up for exams. This kind of uncertainty has a huge bent on our education system. Something urgently needs to be done," he said.

Mr Fagil Mandy, a renowned educationist, urged the government to address the question of salary disparities to ensure equity.

"Government should consider addressing the question of salary disabilities to ensure equity," he said, encouraging teachers to negotiate with the government and call off the strike.

Mr Aron Mugaiga, the General Secretary of Uganda Professional Science Teachers' Union (UPSTU), emphasised the importance of teachers' welfare.

"My call to government will be to negotiate with the teachers and resolve the issues they are raising so that teaching can resume," he said. "I understand recently, government had a discussion with the teachers of humanities, and there was an agreement that was reached."

The government recently announced a 25 percent salary increment for arts teachers, effective from the next financial year. However, the leadership of the Uganda National Teachers' Union (UNATU) insists that they will call off the strike only if the government commits to increasing pay by 300 percent, similar to their science counterparts.

Currently, an arts teacher with a degree qualification earns a gross pay of Shs1,078,162 monthly and takes home a net pay of Shs841,931, while their science counterpart gets Shs4 million and takes home a net pay of Shs2,858,000.

Similarly, an arts teacher with a diploma qualification gets a gross pay of Shs784,214 and takes home a net pay of Shs639,108, while their science counterpart earns Shs2.2 million and takes home a net pay of Shs1,616,000. Primary school teachers earn between Shs450,000 and Shs600,000.