Arts teachers under their umbrella body the Professional Human Teachers Union (UPHTU), in Rukungiri District staged a peaceful protest on Monday demanding salary equity with their science counterparts.
The demonstration began with a meeting at Riverside Hotel, after which the teachers marched while chanting slogans such as “No money, no class” and displaying placards bearing messages like “We want the government to honor its 2019 agreement,” “Article 40 commands you to pay us,” “No money, no vote,” and “The humanities matter.”
The protesting teachers are calling on the government to raise their monthly salary from the current Shs 620,000 to Shs 4,000,000, in line with what science teachers reportedly earn. They cite a 2019 government agreement, which promised to implement the salary increment in the 2025/2026 financial year, a promise they say has seen no tangible progress.
Fred Turamyomwe, chairperson of the Rukungiri arts teachers, revealed that the teachers have been on strike for 11 days and vowed not to return to classrooms until their concerns are addressed. He warned that continued neglect of arts subjects, such as Religious Education, History, English, Business Studies, and Fine Art, was leaving learners stranded and education disrupted.
Turamyomwe further accused the Ministry of Education of discriminatory practices and urged all arts and humanities teachers to stay away from work until the government takes action.
CUE IN TURAMYOMWE…ON INDUSTRIAL ACTION…RR/ENG//
Angela Boonabana, a teacher at St. Gerald’s Secondary School Nyakibale, noted that while science teachers earn over Shs 4 million, arts teachers are paid less than Shs 620,000, leading to widespread disrespect from students and colleagues who now view arts subjects as irrelevant.
Assistant coordinator Kiiza Elias criticized the perceived devaluation of arts education, saying, “If the government considers our subjects useless, let them officially scrap them from the curriculum so we can shift our focus to other livelihoods like farming.”
CUE IN ANGELA……ON THE MATTER…….RR/ENG//
Similar concerns were raised by Esau Isingoma and Sophia Busingye, teachers at Immaculate Heart Girls’ School Nyakibale. They argued that arts and science teachers possess equivalent qualifications, handle comparable workloads, and utilize the same public services, yet are paid drastically different wages.
The teachers called on their colleagues across the country to join the strike and boycott all educational activities, including teaching, exam setting, invigilation, and marking, until the government addresses the issue of salary disparity.
CUE IN ESAU AND SOPHIA…….ON THE ISSUE……..RR/ENG//
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