A section of teachers at Kampala Parents School in Naguru today morning briefly downed their tools, protesting what they termed as poor pay and harsh working conditions.
Some who talked to Bbeg Media said they are paid between Shs 600,000 and Shs 650,000 per month which cannot enable them navigate the high cost of living in Uganda today.
“We are not going back to class. We are not going to give pupils exams because we are treated unfairly,” one of the teachers told us.
The teacher claimed that workers of Asian origin are paid much more even when some do manual labour.
Another said they are constantly insulted by school managers affecting their self-esteem.
Some of the parents who were dropping their children at the school today morning were shocked at the sight of striking teachers. Some expressed solidarity with the striking teachers.
A parent who has a son in P5 said they pay more than Shs 2 million per term and as such expect teachers to be remunerated well.
The school principal Daphne Kato was seen pleading with the teachers to go back to class promising that their concerns would be addressed. Some of the teachers said they wanted the owner, Sudhir Ruparelia, to address them and promise to improve their working conditions.
Sudhir took over the school, patronized by pupils from middle and upper-class families, from educationist Edward Bwerere Kasole in 2000. He modernized the school and expanded its infrastructure.
To do this, he had to constantly hike the school fees, something that did not augur well with some parents who decided to shift their children to other schools.
A security guard told journalists who had gone to cover the strike: “Go away from here. There is no news.”
