Parents, This Is Your Strike Too, Stand With Teachers!

By Wilfred Arinda Nshekantebirwe

Once again, Ugandan teachers have laid down their tools demanding dignity, and government is threatening them with dismissal instead of listening. The ongoing strike by teachers over their salaries continues to expose a government that has abandoned its most important servants. To support the teachers is to support our children’s future. To oppose them is to endorse injustice, inequality, and the deliberate impoverishment of those who shape our children’s destiny.

Last week, the Minister of Public Service, Muruli Mukasa, made a declaration that should shame any serious government. Speaking with the authority of a man unconcerned about the daily struggles of ordinary citizens, he warned teachers that their continued absence from class would “amount to self-dismissal.” In his words:

“If you don’t return to class, it means you are no longer interested in the job, and you will have dismissed yourself. Action will be taken to fill your gap. I am saying, go back to work immediately. I’m appealing to you, go back.”

This language is insulting. It paints teachers as deserters when, in truth, it is the government that has deserted them for decades. Teachers are not abandoning duty; they are fighting for the very means to perform it. The real dereliction of duty lies in the state’s refusal to honor its obligations.

This is not the first-time salary disputes have rocked the education sector. For years, promises have been made and unfulfilled. Pay harmonization across science and humanities teachers has been promised, only to vanish into thin air when budgets are passed. Public universities have had their staff strikes, primary teachers have downed tools, and across the board, the story is the same: the teacher remains at the bottom of the state’s priorities.

On June 29, 2025, President Yoweri Museveni met with the Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers Union (UPHTU) at State House, Entebbe. At that meeting, he pledged to pursue collective solutions, including phased increments. Specifically, he committed to enhancing humanities teachers’ salaries by 25% of the 77% approved long-term pay targets in the 2026/2027 financial year.

This pledge, at first glance, may sound generous. But let us interrogate it. Why wait until 2026/2027? Why phase increments when teachers are already on the edge of survival? Why offer 25% of the 77% target when teachers were promised the full figure years ago? A promise of 25% of an already deferred target is not progress; it is a political trick designed to buy time while teachers continue to wallow in poverty.

The Ministry of Public Service admits that achieving enhancements for humanities teachers, public university staff, primary teachers, and other underpaid public officers would require UGX 1.4 trillion. Here lies the heart of the problem: government treats UGX 1.4 trillion as if it were an impossible mountain to climb. And yet, every financial year, trillions are found to fund questionable priorities, inflated administrative budgets, endless allowances for politicians, and prestige projects that do little to change the lives of ordinary Ugandans. For instance, the government bleeds at least UGX 10 trillion every year to corruption, yet the thieves remain faceless and unpunished, a reality laid bare by the Inspectorate of Government itself. It’s never a question of money; it’s a question of interests.

Another example is the borrowing of money we never use. Out of UGX 43 trillion that Uganda has borrowed since 2013, UGX 16 trillion is still lounging in donor vaults, untouched. But don’t worry, the government still pays “commitment fees” for these idle loans, UGX 469 billion in five years, with Shs 73.9 billion splashed in 2023/24 alone. If only teachers could be paid in ‘commitment,’ they would enter classrooms and teach our children with pride. Instead, they are told there is no money, while government’s true commitment is to banks and politicians.

The truth is simple: Uganda does not lack money. It lacks priorities. If the country can find billions for repairing a single stretch of road, if it can fund an ever-expanding political patronage network, then surely it can find UGX 1.4 trillion to restore dignity to the teaching profession. The issue is not capacity; it is will.

Teachers must understand that this strike is not just about salaries, it is about respect. If they bow to threats now, they validate a cycle of neglect. They would be telling government that intimidation works, that promises can remain unfulfilled without consequence, and that teachers can always be bullied back into classrooms no matter their suffering. Teachers must hold the line, for themselves and for the millions of children who depend on their morale and commitment. A teacher who cannot afford rent, transport, or food cannot deliver quality education. A teacher who is perpetually humiliated by poverty cannot inspire students to dream beyond survival.

And I think that this time, the strike should not remain a lonely battle for teachers. Parents should join hands with teachers, because they are the biggest stakeholders in this fight. They sacrifice school fees year after year, only to have their children taught by exhausted, underpaid, and demoralized teachers. Parents should demand accountability alongside teachers; after all, it is their money and their children’s future that are at stake. And yes, if possible, even learners should be part of this struggle. They must raise their voices, for they are the ones who suffer most when classrooms are filled with despair instead of inspiration. Education is their right. Fighting for teachers’ dignity is, ultimately, fighting for their own.

Critics argue that strikes hurt learners. But who hurts learners more? Is it teachers striking for survival, or a government that has chronically refused to honor its own commitments? A short disruption caused by a strike is painful, yes, but a lifetime of neglected teachers condemns entire generations to poor-quality education. The strike is not against learners; it is for learners.

It is offensive for ministers whose children study in international schools or abroad to lecture striking teachers about duty. They do not understand the indignities of a teacher forced to moonlight as a boda-boda rider or petty trader just to put food on the table. They do not know the shame of a teacher chased from a rented house for failing to pay. This arrogance must be confronted. Teachers must reject the false appeal to patriotism that demands they sacrifice endlessly while leaders live extravagantly. Patriotism without justice is slavery.

Teachers must continue their strike. They must endure the threats, the propaganda, and the intimidation. For once, they must demand real action and real respect. History teaches us that justice is never handed down freely; it is won by those who refuse to be silenced. They must not surrender.

The Writer is the LC5 Male Youth Councillor for Rubanda District.