The Ministry of Education and Sports has directed all private education institutions to duly pay their staff.
Teachers and other workers in some educational institutions have reportedly gone two months without receiving their due salaries while several institutions had resorted to paying them lesser percentages with others completely suspended.
School proprietors’ and administrators’ said they had no money to facilitate payrolls due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
They explained that students who were their sole source of revenue went back home before clearing their outstanding balances.
However, Alex Kakooza, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education notes that since educational institutions have gone only two months without operating, the budgets for first term salaries should be adequate to pay the staff for at least three months.
Kakooza further reminded them about the Ministry of Education and Sports guidelines for staff employment in private education institutions which provides that school management shall pay the full-time staff during both school term and school holidays.
“This is, therefore to remind you that you are required to pay your employees during the lockdown period in accordance with the Employment Act and as per the agreed employment contracts,” stated Kakooza in a circular sent out to directors, proprietors and heads of private education institutions.
His statement comes days after private universities have filed for fiscal stimulus from the government to enable them to reopen their gates to finalists who are expected to return to their respective institutions next month.
Juma Mwamura, the General Secretary Uganda Private Teachers Union however fears that compelling private education institutions more so at the lower levels of secondary and primary to pay staff might not be easy given the fact that the private education sector is largely managed informally with a big number of teachers and instructors working without appointment letters.
