Source: AUN News
Cabinet has approved an increased pay package for all federal officials for the upcoming fiscal year.
The announcement was made by the State Minister for Public Service, Hon. Grace Mugasa, during a meeting with the Committee on Education and Sports on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at Parliament, although she withheld any other information.
Speaking with the committee, Mugasa noted that the difference in compensation between instructors of the arts and sciences, for instance, was caused by the Ministry of Education and Sports’s constrained salary budget for teacher wages.
The minister stated that the structures for the ministry of education were approved by the Ministry of Public Service and added that hiring new employees and paying their salaries for these structures are entirely dependent on the wage bill.
“MDAs and Local Governments report their study of salary costs annually. You can wish all you want, but if the Ministry of Finance does not provide the funding, you will not be able to fill all the posts you want to serve, the minister added.
“We don’t want to exacerbate inequalities. We would have given each person the same amount of money if we had the financial means to do so. But we’re doing it in stages,” Mugasa remarked.
A motion regarding the high tuition and non-tuition fees levied by government-aided institutions was recently brought up in Parliament by the Tororo District Woman MP, Hon. Sarah Opendi.
In response to a few of the petition’s requests, Mugasa informed the committee that 5,400 Education Officers and Assistant Education Officers had been hired, 2,170 of whom had already been deployed, and 3,230 more were waiting for appointment letters and deployment.
She also mentioned that 1,700 personnel received promotions to Education Officer, Senior Education Officer, Head Teacher, and Deputy Head Teacher, respectively.
The minister said, “Despite the restrictions imposed by the wage bill, government is committed to filling all open posts in post-primary as well as primary institutions.
The committee’s lawmakers have ordered the Ministry of Public Service to hasten the creation of the Salary Review Commission.
In his remarks, Hon. Jonathan Ebwalu (Indep., Soroti West Division) referred to Minister Mugasa’s promise to the Public Accounts Committee to form a committee to investigate pay inequalities in the nation.
These are inquiries that demand responses. Due to the disparity in pay, some of our teachers skip class and ride boda-bodas instead. The reputation of education in this nation is not excellent, according to Ebwalu.
The minister gave the committee his word that the Salary Review’s members would be named quickly so that it could begin working.
Despite being deployed to a school, Hon. Lilian Paparu (NRM, Arua District) expressed worry about teachers not receiving their salaries.
Some of them continue to work for nine or ten years without receiving a salary. The Ministry of Public Service is responsible for placing such teachers on the payroll even when they occasionally become frustrated and choose not to join the classroom, according to Paparu.
The minister responded, “We want to assure that if Ministry of Finance avails the money, we as [Ministry of] Public Service are ready to put the teachers on the pay list.”
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
