Judul : Parents, this is your strike too, stand with teachers!
link : Parents, this is your strike too, stand with teachers!
Parents, this is your strike too, stand with teachers!
What you need to know:
Teachers must understand that this strike is not just about salaries: it is about respect
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, 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.”
He said: “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 honour its obligations. 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 Shs1.4 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 demoralised 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 honour 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.
Wilfred Arinda Nshekantebirwe is the LC5 male youth councillor for Rubanda District | wilfredarinda@gmail.com
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