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How 350,000 private teachers will share Museveni’s Shs2b
Several private schools as well as teachers have endured months of nail-biting due to closure as part of the measures to contain the spread of covid-19. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Mr Kaboyo explained that the money the President gave them will be used to set up infrastructure, structures for proper management and administration so that money will not be embezzled. He said they will wait for guidance from the ministries of Education and Finance on how the money will be handled.
Investors in the education sector have welcomed President Museveni’s Shs2b package to teachers and asked for Shs30b to help struggling private schools stay in business.
Several private schools as well as teachers have endured months of nail-biting due to closure as part of the measures to contain the spread of covid-19.
The private school owners through their associations, the Federation of Non-State Education Institutions (FENEI) and the National Private Educational Institutions Association (NPEIA), said the current crisis would have been avoided if the government had planned properly
Mr Patrick Kaboyo, the FENEI national secretary, said like their counterparts in government schools, private institutions want government to support their Sacco with at least Shs30 billion, which school owners and the teachers can borrow at a low interest rate.
“If we are to help teachers gradually, we demand about Shs30 billion to be given in three financial years. As government gave the public school teachers over Shs26 billion, the private school teachers also demand equal allocation because of the work they are doing to promote government programmes,” Mr Kaboyo said in an interview yesterday.
Mr Hassadu Kirabira of NPEIA asked government to halt local tax collection, subsidise utility bills and suspend interest rates the school proprietors have accumulated in loans.
Their remarks follow President Museveni’s address on Tuesday where he promised to support them with Shs2 billion after requests to government to take over the wage bill of teachers in the private schools who have gone without salaries since March.
President’s view
However, Mr Museveni declined to commit to bail out the private institutions with loans and those which have accumulated rental arrears. He said a decision would be reached after a committee they will put in place weighs the available options.
But Mr Kirabira yesterday wondered what Shs2 billion will do after their association registered about 1, 360 licensed schools with varying loans from commercial banks.
He said there are about 18, 000 private primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, which means each school will take Shs100,000 once they equally share the President’s offer of Shs2 billion.
“We have divergent views from what the President gave. We must have direction. What can Shs2 billion do? We are all distressed. If we come for that money, each school will take not more than Shs100,000. What we want is him to reopen our schools. We will follow the guidelines not to contract the virus,” Mr Kirabira said.
The associations also want the Ministry of Education to incorporate them in the committee that will be instituted to look at how institutions will be reopened before September.
Mr Kaboyo explained that the money the President gave them will be used to set up infrastructure, structures for proper management and administration so that money will not be embezzled. He said they will wait for guidance from the ministries of Education and Finance on how the money will be handled.
