Uganda: Confrontation won’t end teachers’ salary stand-off

Sometimes I wonder who advises government on some of the miserable standpoints that are being taken in various ministries in reaction to pertinent issues affecting the people of Uganda. One day you have a minister justifying use of excessive force to arrest unarmed citizens; another day another minister wants traders in Owino still nursing fresh wounds after an inferno that gutted their businesses entirely; the president justifying the current economic madness as good for the country; Makerere University gets closed and lately the prime minister directing striking primary school teachers to end their ongoing industrial action over low salaries and return to class or lose their jobs. Goodness me, can we have some sanity return to our dear country! Please.
 
In the latest development, I think it’s not even necessary to try and spread the teachers’ plight across the board by arguing that everybody else is suffering similarly and thus salary increases cannot be accorded to just one sector. Someone’s got to admit that something is terribly wrong with the teachers’ remuneration scheme, and this has not just started today. What these people need is not the endless rhetoric, but tangible solutions that will enable them to put food on the table for their starving children and to afford decent clothing in order to appear presentable before the children they are teaching. The teachers badly need someone to offer a shoulder to lean on because their misery has reached uncontrollable levels.
 
One parent recently shared an experience where she was being asked by her child’s teacher to help find her another job! Does anyone expect such a teacher to be imparting sensible knowledge to the children she teaches when her entire mind is unfocused, when she is not sure of whether she will have the next day’s meal? And this is just one example of someone who was open enough to share their experience - how many more teachers are dying quietly in their misery?
 
I never stop wondering where this policy of paying so little to people who work so hard emanated from in our country. When you picture the work done by teachers, policemen, soldiers, Askaris, office attendants and drivers, you simply cannot compare the effort they invest with their take home pay. As if that is not enough, the government is further shamelessly taxing these people’s meagre earning through the automatic deduction of Pay As You Earn, the ultimate utilisation of which leaves everyone guessing.
 
I think that the way critical affairs are being run in this country has become blatantly provocative. Failure by our leaders to tone down their pride and address logical concerns logically could have far reaching negative implications. We do not need to push citizens to the wall, because once we do so, they will have no option but to revolt. Any such revolution will not only force the government to address the citizens concerns belatedly, but it will pound more pressure on the already flickering economy.
 
It may be understandable for the government to say that the teachers’ demands may not be immediately met in entirety, but at least something tangible must be seen to be done. Of course in the short run, some teachers may return to class under fear of losing even the little they have, but I can already predict that our innocent children and parents will most likely suffer the brunt of such an action - but how merciless this would be!
 
As of today the closure of Makerere University has cost students more than two weeks of study. Government is applying double standards by giving primary teachers ultimatums while possibly contemplating special solutions for their more volatile professor colleagues. However, all the signs point to a fragile situation that requires really strong leadership on all fronts in order to come up with a winning formula. Let’s admit that things are really bad, and if it means borrowing funds from our international friends to mitigate the situation in the short run, let it be. I reiterate that the way anger is building up across various sectors, there’s absolutely no more room for complacency.
 
We may force these horses (teachers) to the river, but we may not successfully force them to drink (impart knowledge). Let those who have ears, listen.
 
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