Teachers’ strike sparks PLE concerns in Mbarara City
The city's leadership, headed by Speaker Bonny Tashobya Karutsya, voiced their worries during a council meeting on Tuesday, citing the recent poor performance in mocks as a clear indicator of a potential crisis
MBARARA CITY, October 2, 2025 –- Mbarara City leaders have expressed fear that the ongoing industrial action by humanities teachers demanding a pay rise will severely impact pupils’ performance in the forthcoming Primary Leaving Examinations [PLE].
The city’s leadership, headed by Speaker Bonny Tashobya Karutsya, voiced their worries during a council meeting on Tuesday, citing the recent poor performance in mocks as a clear indicator of a potential crisis.
“We have a serious problem with the teachers,” Tashobya noted. “Our education system already has challenges with the new curriculum. Now, adding pupils not being taught, we have seen the mock results. This is an indicator not only here in Mbarara City but also in other rural districts… of a likelihood of a poor performance in the PLE.”
The Speaker pointed out the stark difference in salaries, which has fueled the strike, calling for urgent government intervention. “We must accept that if teachers fail to go to teach the pupils, what do you expect?” he challenged.
The salary disparity and its ripple effect
Tashobya highlighted the immense pay gap between science and arts teachers, which he argues is causing a “bandwagon effect” where students are abandoning humanities.
“Scientists are paid over Shs 4 million, while arts teachers are receiving just Shs 580,000,” he stated. “Recently, our town clerks’ salaries were increased to Shs 12 million, but the teachers who taught them are being paid Shs 580,000. As a council, we support the teachers; let President Museveni look into this issue so that we get good performance in schools.”
He fears that prioritising science salaries is steering too many students away from arts, which will eventually lead to a shortage of specialists and technocrats in other vital sectors.
“At one point, you will find we don’t have town clerks because of the prerequisites,” Tashobya warned. “I went to Ntare School and found very few arts students… we are saying let teachers of other fields also be considered important for this country.”
The council’s fears are grounded in data: the Speaker revealed that only 1,157 pupils achieved a first grade in the Mbarara City mock exams, a sharp drop from 2,099 in last year’s performance. “This margin is really worrying,” he said.
Workers’ councillor backs the strike and calls for harmonisation
Workers’ Councillor Ben Patrick Twahirwa strongly affirmed the teachers’ position, noting that the industrial action by the Uganda National Teachers’ Union [UNATU] is now in its 16th day, having commenced on 15th September, a day before learners in primary and secondary schools officially reported for third term
While acknowledging the importance of science, Twahirwa stressed the need for a balanced approach, appealing to the government to consider humanities teachers as very important in the country’s development.
“People are gifted differently,” Twahirwa explained. “This world needs people of all rounds… people offering some of the subjects under the guise of thinking that when you do science, you excel and be better is a failure at some point.”
He further raised the issue of understaffing in schools and called for a salary harmonisation review commission to resolve the arts teachers’ dispute permanently. Twahirwa also petitioned the government to swiftly introduce a minimum wage bill to protect workers in the private and informal sectors from exploitation.
Deputy Mayor: “It’s Inequality”
Deputy Mayor Priscah Mulongo echoed the support for arts teachers, describing their low pay as a “peanut” compared to their responsibilities.
“We are seeing there is imbalance in payments to the teachers,” Mulongo said. “One can’t get four million, another one gets Shs 500,000. It is really bad.”
She pleaded with the government to increase arts teachers’ salaries to at least Shs 1.5 million or Shs 2 million to reduce the glaring imbalance. Mulongo noted that the strike has already caused many children in Mbarara to stay home or be moved to private schools, threatening the city’s strong academic standing.
“In 2023 we registered the 7th position in the whole country; in 2024 we became the 5th. Now in 2025, we had high hopes of becoming the 1st,” she lamented. “But now we are very worried because children are not studying.”
Government appeals for diplomacy
In a contrasting appeal, Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Mbarara City South, Gerard Tukamuhebwa, urged the arts teachers to adopt a “more principled diplomatic way” of demanding their pay increase, one that does not negatively affect the country’s children.
“The good news is that the government is promising and already has something to offer,” Tukamuhebwa said, adding that teachers should lower their demands to ensure the final agreement is financially sustainable.
Wider industrial action looms
The teachers’ industrial action is part of a growing movement. Workers’ Councillor Twahirwa confirmed that the Uganda Local Government Workers Union [ULGWU] is set to join the strike, further escalating the nationwide demand for salary parity.
Meanwhile, by press time, Ibanda District Local Government offices were reportedly closed. At Mbarara City Council, Town Clerk Justine Barekye called a meeting, appealing to staff not to join the burgeoning industrial action announced recently by ULGWU] over meagre salaries.
https://thecooperator.news/museveni-passes-out-over-1300-patriotic-secondary-school-teachers/
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