EDUCATION  | TEACHERS’ FUND

Within a month, the education ministry will have completed setting up structures through which all teachers around the country can access the sh20b, which was provided to them by the Government during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a statement issued on Friday, education ministry permanent secretary Alex Kakooza said the private schools’ teachers have not received the sh20b relief money as promised by Government since they were not properly organised.

He added that the private schools’ teachers did not have credible savings and credit schemes and that the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) also did not have the capacity to distribute the money.

“The MSC would not be able to identify the genuine private school teachers and may not have an effective mechanism to disburse the grant to them.”

On March 20, President Yoweri Museveni ordered the immediate closure of all schools and educational institutions, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. An estimated 15 million learners in 73,240 institutions and 548,192 teachers were affected, for close to nine months now.

New distribution plan

Kakooza added that President Museveni, who had ordered the release of funds, “eventually guided that the money should be removed from the Emyooga programme in MSC and given to teachers to manage it through their structures”.

Initially, the fund was provided as part of the Emyooga programme, through MSC.
“Following this guidance, the education ministry engaged the seven organisations that came forward as representing teachers in private schools.

It was agreed that the grant should be managed as a revolving fund by a competent fund manager sourced through the standing Government procurement regulations,” Kakooza explained.
He added that “a due diligence exercise has been conducted on prospective fund managers and the procurement process is now underway.”

“It was also established that the seven organisations did not have the membership or national reach to represent the majority teachers in private schools across the country.
They also did not have structures at grassroots level through which the teachers could access the funds,” the statement reads.

“Consequently, it was resolved that the education ministry would immediately embark on organising teachers in private schools so that there is a representative structure, from school level through district and up to the national level, through which the teachers can access the funds, among other things,” Kakooza said.

“This process will be completed by the end of the year. It is envisaged that such a structure will eventually lead to establishment of a national apex SACCOS (savings and credit co-operative society) for teachers in private schools to take over the management of the revolving fund in the near future,” he added.

“This is, therefore, to allay the concerns of the teachers, as well as the general public and reassure everyone that the delay in operationalising the fund has been occasioned by the need to ensure that a fair and sustainable mechanism is put in place,” Kakooza explained.

“District education officers are called upon to support the ongoing process of establishing school and district associations of private schools’ teachers as guided by the circular issued by the education ministry,” he added.

Move welcomed by teachers Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) general secretary Filbert Baguma said there is nothing wrong using a government established structure to distribute the money to teachers.
“What matters most is ensuring that the money reaches the teachers in various parts of the country,” he said.

“We do not trust the MSC, which is still holding onto our money, amounting to sh9.317b they received in the 2013/2014 financial year from the Government, meant for public schools’ teachers,” baguma said.

Proprietors of Private Educational Institutions’ Association chairperson Mike Kironde said the Government’s plan is fine, “as long as the teachers get their money on time”.
Naalya SS schools proprietor Dr Livingstone Ddungu said: “Teachers need that money to start businesses and keep their families standing.
Some schools have not been paying their teachers and the Government support should be sent to them as fast as possible.”

However, some of the private schools’ teachers are sceptical that the money will reach them.
A teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Some of our district education officers cannot be trusted. I hope this money is not misappropriated.”

Background
Private schools’ teachers have been affected by their closure due to COVID-19 more than those on government payroll.

President Museveni, a couple of months ago, ordered that the finance ministry releases sh20b to support hundreds of thousands of teachers, who are in 13,000 private schools.
Of the 548,192 affected teachers, 75,560 are in private schools around the country.
Most of these private schools stopped paying teachers after the first month of the lockdown in April.

Most teachers in private schools get less than sh500,000 ($136.3), with the exception of a few private schools in the country.

Teachers in some private schools get salary as low as sh100,000 ($27.2) per month yet the lowest paid teacher on the government payroll in a primary school starts at about sh400,000 ($109). In secondary, the lowest paid is at about sh700,000 ($218).
It is only teachers in Government-aided schools who have been receiving salaries.

Teachers speak out 
Jessica Asiimwe, a teacher in Entebbe, Wakiso district, said: “Most of the schools I was teaching in stopped paying us as soon as the lockdown started. I was forced to get a cheaper rental house and cut my budget to survive. I pray this money reaches us.”
She plans to set up a shoe shop, to supplement her income.

Mariah Mwesigwa said: “I had to go to the village with my husband mid this year because we could no longer afford the expensive life in town.
We hope the Government is serious this time and will release the money.”