A group of twenty nine primary school head teachers in Mityana District, Uganda, has expressed their concern about unexpected reductions in their salaries. These educators claim that the deductions started in October 2022 without their prior knowledge or consent.
The issue dates back to June 23, 2014, when the Ministry of Public Service implemented new salary structures for the 2014/2015 financial year. This resulted in automated salary increases for head teachers in primary schools under scale U4 lower and deputy head teachers in scale U5 Upper. Since then, head teachers in Mityana have been receiving a monthly salary of Shs982,000, according to the new structure.
However, in October 2022, some head teachers began noticing reductions in their salaries and demanded an explanation. They sought assistance from Mityana District Primary Head Teachers Association (MIDPSHA), who sent a letter to the chief administrative officer (CAO) on December 27, 2022.
The chairperson of MIDPSHA, Mr. Levi William Tibyeitu, explained, “We informed the CAO after numerous complaints were registered with our office that head teachers were losing part of their salary without formal communication. Head teachers are losing between Shs100,000 and Shs200,000 per month.”
The association also reached out to the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) for help but received no resolution.
Unatu’s Secretary General, Mr. Filbert Baguma, acknowledged the issue and stated that the availability of the CAO was crucial in resolving it. He promised to follow up after the World Teachers Day celebrations on October 5.
Mr. Paul Semyalo, Head Teacher at Namutidde Primary School, reported that he has experienced salary deductions since November 2022. “I’m losing Shs140,000 every month,” said Mr. Semyalo. “When we made an alarm, those responsible started deducting Shs70,000, but they later resumed deducting Shs140,000.”
The affected head teachers are calling for the reinstatement of their original salaries and the repayment of the deductions.
Efforts to contact Ms. Edith Mutabazi, the CAO of Mityana, for a statement on the matter remained unanswered by press time.
The Mityana LCV Chairperson, Mr. Patrick Mugisha, attributed the issue to problems with the salary structures and an attempt to align salaries with duties. Mityana has a total of 119 government-aided primary schools.