KAMBO HAKIM: What You Need To Know About Our Ugandan Teachers

Many teachers in Uganda don’t become teachers by choice but are condemned to the profession by either poverty or low academic grades. Children in their lower education levels are usually asked about the career paths they wish to pursue and rarely will you find a learner opting for the teaching career. Many will prefer Engineering, aviation, medical and Law among other better paying professions.

Peasants in Uganda tell their children to pursue education and become teachers to easily get jobs with the assumption that teaching vacancies are many given the many public and private schools that available. While this could be true, the teacher pay is still miserable and demeaning. The biggest percentage of teachers, are children of peasants. Children from poor families resort to the teaching profession not out of interest or choice, but because the course is comparatively affordable at the tertiary institutions. Their parents can’t afford the exorbitant tuition fees for the other courses leading to better paying jobs like law, medicine and engineering among others.

In spite of the meagre earnings by teachers, community has higher expectations from them. Teachers are opinion leaders in their communities, they are expected to be morally upright, dress smartly and live more decently. They are expected to attend and contribute in village harambees, fundraisings for church and weddings among others. All those expectations push teachers to live beyond their means. Teachers are chocking on loans to be able to rent a descent apartment, avoid being shabby at school and in community, and to be able to contribute in community harambees. But they also have to afford school fees for their children, health expenses and to put food on table for their families.

I read in the media at the beginning of this year about the government’s decision to regulate or set fees for schools and other education institutions and my thoughts went out to teachers. All figures suggested as school fees were beyond the monthly pay for the teachers at their corresponding levels for those teaching in primary and secondary schools. Teachers are working in schools where they can’t afford to educate their own children but are expected to offer good education service to children of businessmen, doctors, engineers, politicians among others.

The recent allegations of homosexuality in school are very unfortunate especially where teachers who are expected to be the custodians of good morals are being involved. But given the rumors about the attractive monies the gay community is offering to promote their practices and the plight of teachers of Uganda, I pray that the teachers don’t give up on the wait for government to enhance their salaries and instead opt to collude with the LGBTQ community to promote homosexuality in schools for survival. God save my country!

Kambo Hakim

Teacher and Education Consultant.