UNATU Sends Warning to Museveni; Reveals What Arts Teachers Will Accept After Pay Rise Rejection

The Uganda National Teachers' Union has modified its stance on salary demands, now accepting even marginal increases in the upcoming national budget. The shift marks a departure from previous hard-line positions following unmet government promises and widening pay disparities between arts and science educators.

According to Unatu Secretary General Filbert Baguma, arts teachers continue to receive significantly lower wages than their science counterparts, who benefited from a 300 percent salary increase in 2022. The pay gap has created tension within Uganda's education sector, with arts teachers earning a baseline of 499,684 shillings monthly at the primary level, regardless of qualifications.

The wage disparity sparked protests in 2022, leading to a brief strike that ended under governmental pressure. President Yoweri Museveni's administration had promised a phased enhancement plan for all public officers, yet implementation remains pending after nearly two years.

Primary classroom instructors and secondary arts teachers face mounting financial pressures. Secondary educators with degrees receive 960,288 shillings monthly, while diploma holders earn 745,000 shillings, amounts that struggle to match rising living costs.

The Ministry of Education's Budget Framework Paper for 2025/26 prioritizes other initiatives, including new university operations, school construction, and sports facility development. Teacher salary enhancement remains notably absent from the eight key focus areas.

Previous negotiations saw Unatu proposing to distribute the existing 95 billion shilling wage bill equally among all 169,000 teachers. This suggestion would have provided approximately 46,800 shillings per teacher, but President Museveni rejected the proposal, describing it as mere "sprinkling" that would not resolve fundamental salary issues.

The union's revised approach acknowledges fiscal limitations while maintaining pressure for fair compensation. Secondary school teacher Alex Mugenyi from Wakiso district highlighted the growing gap between educator salaries and daily expenses, emphasizing that even modest increases would impact teachers' lives significantly.