Home Education Arts Teachers Bow to Gov’t Pressure, Call Off Strike After Meeting Museveni

Arts Teachers Bow to Gov’t Pressure, Call Off Strike After Meeting Museveni

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Filbert Baguma, the Secretary General of the Uganda National Teachers' Union presenting the Arts Teachers' Greviances to President Museveni today at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds

The leadership of the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) has called off their strike after almost four weeks.

Those who had laid down tools, due to salary discrepancies, fresh pronouncement after meeting president Museveni and Hon. Janet Museveni, the Minister of Education today.

Some of the UNATU Leaders who attended the meeting at Kololo ceremonial grounds

“We decided to suspend the industrial action as we continue to engage government for the good of our learners because we don’t want them to lose a lot, and the teachers themselves,” Filbert Baguma, the UNATU General Secretary said after another three-hour closed-door meeting the association’s cluster leaders from different districts across the country, had after the engagement with the president.
“After the meeting with the president, we had to come back here and consult ourselves on the next step we should take. We deliberated for three hours and agreed that the teachers return to class starting Wednesday (July 6),” Mr. Baguma added.

No Salary Enhancement Now-Museveni

President Museveni, however after the meeting said that government will not enhance the salaries of arts teachers.

“Janet Museveni and I met with leaders of the Uganda National Teacher’s Union (UNATU) in their regional clusters at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds this afternoon,” he said adding,

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President Museveni and the First Lady and Minister of Education Hon Janet Kataha Museveni arriving at Kololo ceremonial Grounds to meet UNATU Leaders

“I assured them that while government acknowledges the issues raised by the Arts teachers, we are also aware of salary issues from other workers; the army, Police officers, who are equally important to the growth and development of this country,”

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Museveni added that they have provided a position as government and pledged to competitively remunerate workers guided by a science-led strategy.

“This does not mean we have forgotten others, but we are choosing to prioritize the few and others can come later. We must finish one problem at a time,” he said

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Janet Kataha Museveni speaking to the disgruntled UNATU Leaders
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According to Museveni, the Arts teachers insisted that government should use the available resources to improve salaries across the board, whilst this is possible, which he says t does not solve the salary issue.

“It is sprinkling, where everyone will get a little and then next year everyone strikes. We have a strategy and no one should disrupt us,” he said concluding,

“We are aware of the issues and we are committed to handling them. Therefore, my advice to the teachers is that they should go back and teach,”

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