Published by Daily Monitor Wednesday September 28,2011
Vincent Nuwagaba
I read with concern Mike Ssegawa’s article titled, “Let’s get real; teachers do not deserve salary increment now”. I would like to use the Daily Monitor whose company slogan is truth every day to expose the truth to Mr Ssegawa and his ilk about the supreme importance of a teacher and why they deserve a pay raise now. Ssegawa rightly acknowledges that teachers need a pay raise. He, however, swerves and goes diversionary when he says they are holding us hostage over their salaries. I know he reasons in such a manner because he is not a teacher. I need to step in the shoes of a Ugandan teacher who started as a grade III teacher, upgraded to Grade V and currently is a university graduate but to date still gets a monthly salary of Sh260,000. We also need to put the concept teacher into perspective. Who says a university professor of law, medicine, journalism or engineering – professions that Ssegawa glorifies is not a teacher? And is everyone that has gone through a teacher training college a teacher in a real sense?
Although I cherish humility and therefore always refrain from tooting my own horn, I have been a teacher at two stages throughout my education career – I taught in a primary school in my senior six vacation and I have taught in university. I have received feedback from parents – not students that I am a good teacher. I have also facilitated in some functions and I get positive responses. However, I have never had any formal training as a teacher. Thus, if you asked me who a teacher is, I would say, that man or woman ably passes on knowledge, information, values or skills to another person.
Before the teachers called off their strike, the Premier Amama Mbabazi threatened them with sacking and recruitment of fresh ones. How sure can we be that we would real teachers for our children even if they had paper qualifications? We are deeply engrossed into form rather than substance. How do you sack a tried, tested and trusted teacher and you replace him/her with the one that hasn’t even undergone orientation or induction? So our children should be turned into laboratories onto which tests and trials are done? Sadly, those who intended to sack teachers don’t have their children or grand children in UPE schools. They have eaten too much and are now suffering from indigestion!
As to whether teachers are holding us hostage over their salaries, he who wears the shoe knows how it pinches. And by the way, teachers have not stopped anybody from demanding a pay raise. Teachers and indeed all workers have a right to withdraw their labour if they are not well remunerated. All workers are entitled to a living wage.
The argument that only what the government should do is to control the spiraling inflation is misleading. With or without inflation, Shs250,000 is not worth working for. Not by people in the noble profession!
When Ssegawa argues that teachers’ level of education, workload and experience are miles away from other professionals such as doctors, state attorneys, accountants, engineers and journalists, I fail to understand whether or not he is a journalist because journalists like academics are the most informed people. While different people have different opinions, I would expect journalists, academics and researchers to give informed and considered opinions not opinions pedaled on the streets. A teacher goes to class, draws lesson plans and schemes of work and at home after 5pm, they embark on marking.
Ssegawa and his ilk should know that university professors are teachers but also there are currently primary and secondary school teachers with Masters Degrees. UNATU’s James Tweheyo and I were supervised by Professor John-Jean Barya for a master in human rights. How many Ugandans are better educated than him? When my brother talks of experience what exactly does he mean? Is he saying that inexperienced teachers are the only ones that laid down their tools?
Ssegawa lies that education has the “most lax” and affordable requirements for entry into higher institutions of learning. He must be uninformed and while he is entitled to his opinions, he has no right whatsoever to misinform others. Not any fool can qualify to do a degree course in education from Makerere University for instance. Maybe he is talking about what some people have called useless universities.
Mr Ssegawa makes a good observation that there’s need to increase salaries across the board. Granted! That doesn’t stop teachers from demanding salary increment and since he is a journalist, I would expect him to use his profession to urge the police, military, doctors and state attorneys to demand a living wage. Personally, I hardly need state attorneys in my life because all they do is work hard to secure convictions of many people so that they can be appreciated in which case many innocent people are convicted as a result of state attorneys that Ssegawa idolises. Besides, state attorneys don’t complain because they have their informal ways of getting money – read bribery.
Teachers have many dependents including their very pupils and students and this justifies their demand. I am only saddened that they asked only 100 percent increment which would translate into a total monthly earning of Sh500,000. What will that little do for the teacher, his wife, his elderly mother and father, his children and other dependents? It is just a drop in the ocean. True, teachers have their pupils and students depending on them. My Maternal Uncle James Ruremire died when I was in P5. For P6 and P7, my fees were paid by Raphael Kamugisha, a Grade III teacher at Kigarama Primary School. He was the second person to buy me a trouser after my grandma Susanna Kirakwende. I cannot count how many of my teachers bought for me goodies at school. After senior four, I opened a shop and I used Charles Yemare and Nazario Twesigomwe commonly called Debraza - my former teachers’ bicycles to do my business. Let’s get real; forcing hungry, angry and impoverished teachers to work is detrimental to our children for they can give them wrong information and formulae.
The writer is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
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