By Wabuteya Macmillan
In contemporary Uganda, the glaring salary disparities within the teaching fraternity particularly between science and arts educators have evolved into a pressing national crisis that undermines constitutional ideals of equity, justice, and dignity of labor. While graduate science teachers currently earn up to UGX 4 million per month following the 2022/23 fiscal reforms, equally qualified graduate arts teachers continue to receive a paltry UGX 1.08 million, with diploma holders earning even less at approximately UGX 795,000. In primary education, the situation is more dismal, classroom teachers earn an average of UGX 500,000, while head teachers earn around UGX 700,000. To compound this inequity, science head teachers’ salaries were increased in July 2024 to UGX 6.5 million surpassing those of their superiors, such as district education officers thus distorting administrative and professional hierarchies.
The inequity becomes even more egregious when juxtaposed with earnings in other sectors. A certificate-level nurse, with fewer years of formal training, now earns upwards of UGX 1.3 million which is well above the remuneration of a graduate arts teacher. This scenario not only exemplifies systemic marginalization but also flagrantly violates Article 40(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, which guarantees every worker “just and favourable conditions of work, including fair remuneration.” The persistent discrepancy contravenes Article 21, which provides for equality before the law and prohibits any form of discrimination in political, economic, or social spheres.
These disparities are further exacerbated by the uniform burden imposed on teachers under the National Learning Framework (NLSC). Educators are now tasked with managing a complex and labor-intensive load that includes continuous assessments, individualized learner profiling, and competency-based curriculum delivery. Despite these escalating expectations, arts teachers remain grossly undercompensated, overworked, and underappreciated, leading to low morale, attrition, and resentment within schools. There have been disturbing reports of institutional divisions, where science and arts teachers occupy separate staffrooms, and students openly demean humanities subjects and their instructors eroding collegiality and respect within the learning environment.
Against this backdrop, we make an urgent and unequivocal appeal to His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Ministry of Public Service, the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Parliament of Uganda to intervene and rectify this inequitable salary structure. Teachers’ unions most notably the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) and the Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers’ Union (UPHTU) have issued ultimatums, threatening industrial action should the 2025/26 budget fail to address this systemic injustice. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), in its 2024 report, also underscored that such disparities contravene principles of equitable public service and urged the formation of a comprehensive Salary Review Commission.
Remuneration should reflect not only academic qualification and workload but also the intrinsic value of the role to national development. It is unconscionable for the government to champion a selective remuneration policy that alienates a significant segment of the education workforce. We, therefore, implore all relevant authorities to urgently heed this call, uphold constitutional mandates, and institute comprehensive salary reforms. Only then can we restore dignity to the teaching profession, foster harmony in our schools, and safeguard the future of Uganda’s education system. The writer Wabuteya Macmillan is an MBA Student Busitema University Uganda, CFE Student Evasity College Kenya & can be reached at wabmacmillan@gmail.com. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
