Discussions on the thorny issue of legal officers in the Uganda Police Force (UPF) this week stoked fears that President Museveni’s government might be considering cutting science teachers’ salaries after failing to increase the pay of arts teachers.
Government increased the salaries of secondary science teachers in 2022, leaving their colleagues who teach arts subjects grumbling.
Science teachers earn about four times more than the salaries of arts teachers.
The salary disparity has persisted for three years now.
Ahead of every financial year, arts teachers issue threats for industrial action in protest of failure by government to find money to raise their salaries.
Weeks ago, teachers under their umbrella body Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers Union issued an ultimatum to government to find money to raise their pay or wait for them to disrupt learning in second term of the 2025 academic calendar.
This after negotiations with government officials, including Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Service who convened a meeting with the executive committee members of the Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers’ Union at the Ministry of Public Service Training Room, to discuss the potential enhancement of salaries for teachers in the humanities disciplines.
Over the years, government policy has shifted in favour of so-called scientists.
Government has promised to increase salaries of arts teachers as and when the state of the economy improves.
This week, as MPs discussed the issue of legal officers in Uganda Police whose salaries were increased for a few months, than later cut, leader of opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi warned against any plans to cut science teachers salaries.
“Science teachers earn about four times more than the arts teachers and some of us have been saying ‘we are not saying that now reduce the salaries of the science teachers because they deserve a good pay but increase the salaries of the arts teachers, too, so that there is equity,” said Joel Ssenyonyi.
“So, what we want now is for government to rectify something that it had already done right because they deserve a good pay and we were happy that government had enhanced their pay. All of a sudden, givernment now is retracting on that. Why?”
The education and public service ministries and government, generally, are yet to come out on reports of plans to cut science teachers’ salaries after failing to raise arts teachers’ pay.
However, even if they were to do this, they would have to prepare for legal battles with science teachers and their unions on whose side the right hand of the law is – as can be seen in the case of police legal officers.
Watch more on this story Here.
As The Pearl Times recently reported, as things stand, Museveni’s government says there is no money to increase arts teachers, who the president has previously told that ‘Shakespeare’s plays do not heal sick people.’ (See Details Here and There).
You can see the full salary structure for the current financial year showing how much each government employee category earns every month, as well as Uganda’s most highly paid government employees Here and There.
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