President Museveni has said that teachers of science subjects in secondary schools shall be paid slightly higher than their counterparts teaching arts subjects.
Officiating at the closure of a two-day retreat for 3,000 secondary school headteachers at State House, Entebbe last week, Museveni said salaries of science teachers shall be enhanced soon.
“Government is with immediate effect going to increase salaries of science teachers although headteachers and deputies will still earn slightly higher. The arts teachers will also have their pay raised later. The salary for science teachers will be competitive. We don’t want to hear that science teachers in Kenya are getting a better pay than those in our country,” Museveni said.
Museveni did not elaborate how much science teachers shall earn with the increment.
Currently a secondary school teacher earns about Shs 500,000 per month.
The disparity in the pay of teachers is likely to create disharmony in an education sector which already facing many challenges.
It will also re-ignite the debate on whether sciences are better than arts. Museveni has previously labelled arts subjects and courses at university as “useless.”
Museveni said government is holding discussions to reduce the number of subjects done by students in secondary schools.
“You are tiring the children. Education should not be a punishment. It must be interesting, something one likes. We are going to sort it out, it should not be something students resent.
The president told planners in the ministry of Education to consult first before sanctioning buildings for new school structures.
“Consider building simple bungalow structures, not those expensive storeyed buildings, actually five-star hotels, which ultimately limit the number of beneficiary schools,” he said..
Museveni told the teachers to emphasise patriotism in schools to promote students’ love for Uganda, Africa and themselves.
“You find schools producing products without a compass. You find children who think they are in Europe when they are at the shores of Lake Victoria. Help these children to have a bearing in life, many Africans don’t love themselves,” he said.
