Teachers’ Day: 52 Kayunga teachers abandon classrooms for Boda Bodas
Riders at Busaana Boda Boda stage in Kayunga Town where some of the former teachers work. PHOTO | FRED MUZAALE
What you need to know:
- According to Mr Abdul Batambuze, the Kayunga Chief Administrative Officer, a total of 32 teachers have absconded from duty and resorted to the Boda Boda business while 20 have gone to work in Middle East countries.
As teachers across the globe marked International Teachers’ Day Wednesday to celebrate their success and reflect on the future, some of their colleagues in Kayunga District have deserted the profession to join the Boda Boda business.
According to Mr Abdul Batambuze, the Kayunga Chief Administrative Officer, a total of 32 teachers have absconded from duty and resorted to the Boda Boda business while 20 have gone to work in Middle East countries.
“Because of this, we have a big teacher deficit in many schools and many learners have been left unattended. The teachers have decided to do Boda Boda business to earn more money,” Mr Batambuze revealed in an interview on October 5.
He said the most affected schools are in the sub-counties of Kayonza, Bbaale and Galilaaya.
The CAO added, however, that the number of teachers who have abandoned the profession could be much higher than this, noting that many head teachers had refused to report some teachers who had absconded because they share the salary with them.
“We are trying to investigate reports that many other head teachers have not informed us about the absentee teachers. When we find out, those school heads would refund all the money that teacher received during the period he/she was not teaching,” Mr Batambuze said.
He added that the teachers had used their jobs to acquire salary loans which they used to buy motorcycles for Boda Bodas.
“I hear the Boda Boda business gives them about Shs30,000 on average daily which means they earn about Shs900,000 a month,” he said. Most primary school teachers earn about Shs500,000 a month.
One of the teachers who deserted teaching for Boda Boda who declined to be named said: “I cannot work for peanuts. People see you wearing a tie every day when in the pocket there is nothing. I would rather ride a Boda Boda than dying a pauper,” he said.
Mr Batambuze said they have advertised the vacant posts so that they are filled.
Mr Dan Bubaale, the Kayunga District education officer urged teachers not to abscond from the "noble profession".
"I urge them to value their profession and not money," Mr Bubaale said.
The advertisement of the vacant posts including others in other departments like health, works and administration has, however, brewed a storm in the district with councillors accusing the District Service Commission and senior staff of “selling the jobs”.
Mr Joel Kayiira, a councillor representing Galilaya Sub County at the district claimed the
job applicants pay over Shs2m for the jobs, a claim Mr Baatambuze and
Mr Badru Ssentongo, the Kayunga District Service Commission chairperson, dismissed.
Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, calibre and future of an individual. Still, many teachers have of late quit the profession and ventured into private businesses complaining of low motivation. Some who had started private businesses during the two-year Covid lockdown never returned to the classroom after realizing that their small businesses were fetching more money than teaching.
Although the government in July raised salaries for graduate and Grade V science teachers to Shs4m and Shs3m up from Shs1.1m and Shs796,000 respectively, their Arts counterparts are still paid peanuts which have affected their morale at work.
