“We Have No Money To Increase The Salary Of Art Teachers” President Museveni Tells
Presiding over the graduation ceremony of 413 secondary school headteachers in the expansive Western Uganda region, spanning Mubende and Kasanda districts, held at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi, President Museveni addressed the participants who had successfully completed their ideological orientation training. In response to pleas from arts educators for improved remuneration, Museveni conveyed that the anticipated salary adjustments for public servants would face a delay, attributing it to the imperative need for socio-economic transformation.
Museveni underscored the formidable challenge of implementing substantial salary increases in the absence of a robust foundation in socio-economic development, questioning, “How can the state afford competitive salaries without first achieving socio-economic transformation? Where would the funds come from? Even during our early days in government, our salaries were modest; even today, my own salary is modest.”
He emphasized that authentic socio-economic transformation serves as a crucial prerequisite for the government to acquire the necessary resources to elevate the salaries of public servants. Museveni highlighted the intricate link between transformation at the family level, job creation, income generation, and tax contributions, asserting that this interconnected cycle plays a pivotal role in enhancing the government’s financial capacity to provide better compensation for its workforce.
In justifying his approach of prioritizing sciences over arts in education and advocating for the well-being of science educators, Museveni defended the emphasis on producing engineers and medical professionals over other disciplines. Expressing his personal viewpoint, he remarked, “We require these scientists more because we need engineers and medical professionals, among other crucial roles. I pursued arts, but I cannot bring my Shakespeare to construct a bridge.”
Acknowledging a previous disagreement with teachers over the allocation of additional funds, Museveni disclosed, “Recently, there was a minor conflict between us, the government, and teachers. When we had a modest increase in funds, we chose to enhance the salaries of scientists, sparking this conflict.” The President’s stance underscores the ongoing discourse surrounding educational priorities and the allocation of resources in the pursuit of national development objectives.