By Editorial,
There is renewed hope that striking teachers may soon return to the classroom after Parliament pledged to urgently address the grievances of civil servants who have been on industrial action for more than ten days over salary disparities.
This follows petitions presented to Parliament on Wednesday by leaders of the Uganda National Teachers’ Union, the Technical Vocational Education Trainers’ Association nd the Uganda Local Government Workers’ Union.
The heated engagement, chaired by Speaker Anita Among, lasted over two hours and nearly reached a stalemate when UNATU General Secretary, Mr. Filbert Bates Baguma, demanded that Parliament treats their concerns as a matter of national importance and give a clear commitment to salary enhancement before teachers could call off their strike.
Mr. Filbert expressed disappointment that, despite patient waiting for over three years, the government had failed to honor its obligations under the 2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
He said the government’s 2022 decision to increase salaries for science teachers while excluding arts teachers had deepened inequality in the education sector.
In response, Speaker Among directed the Committees on Public Service and Education, and Sports to urgently scrutinize the salary disparities between science and arts teachers and report back with recommendations. She also instructed the Clerk to write to the Minister of Public Service to act on the petitions. END