As government continues to struggle to deal with disparities brought about by a recent decision to increase salaries of secondary school teachers, a top Ministry of Public Service official has said the salaries of arts teachers will be raised a few years before 2026.
Last week, Public Service Ministry Permanent Secretary (PS) Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire told a parliamentary committee investigating the salary disparities in the education sector that arts teachers will have their pay enhanced in 2026.
It should be remembered that arts teachers under the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) had laid their tools down for days protesting the salary increment disparities. But after meeting President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni for the second time, Unatu leaders resolved to call off their industrial action to allow room for negotiations.
There was later a glimmer of hope as Parliament seemed interested in pushing government to process a supplementary budget for the enhancement of arts teachers’ salaries. But this push stopped at the passing of a motion for government to increase arts teachers’ salaries as well. But no salary increment has been given to secondary school arts teachers.
The discriminatory salary increment is said to have already bred trouble in schools, lowering the morale of arts teachers, head teachers and their deputies.
Now, days after she was quoted as telling a committee of Parliament that arts teachers would get salary enhancements in 2026, she has reportedly revealed that the government would increase the pay within two years’ time, and not in 2026 as press reports indicated in recent days.
PS Bitarakwate recently told government newspaper The New Vision that the salaries of the secondary arts teachers will be raised in the second half of the National Development Plan III (NDP III) whose first half has already ended. What this means is that by 2025, arts teachers’ will have had their salaries increased — provided funds are available to do so.
For the record, arts teachers’ salary increment has not been included in the new salary structure for the 2022-2023 financial year. (See How Much Each Government Employee Will Be Earning Starting July 2022 in New Salary Structure HERE).
The government has also scrapped allowances for medical officers. (Read Story Here).
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