Arts Teachers Will Start Earning Shs4m, says PS Bitarakwate

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire, has said that Arts Teachers will equally start earning Shs4m like the science teachers by the end of five years.

Bitarakwate was Tuesday appearing before the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee.

She said that they simply started with science teachers but the plan is to have all teachers earn the same.

Wilson Muruli Mukasa, the Minister of Public Service, also confirmed that Government would finalize establishing a Salaries Review Commission by the end of this calendar year.

He noted that although Shs800bn is needed for teachers’ salary enhancement, they only have Shs200bn.

At the start of July this year, Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) called off the nearly 20-day arts teachers’ strike after meeting President Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni, who is also the Minister of Education at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala.

The teachers had laid down their tools on June 15 demanding a uniform salary increment following the government’s decision to raise the salaries of their science counterparts by 300 percent.

Museveni promised that the government would gradually enhance the salaries of all civil servants but guided by a science-led strategy.