The Bishop of Mukono Diocese, Enos Kitto Kagodo has asked the government to reconsider its decision of paying science teachers huge sums of money when their counterparts, the Arts teachers, are getting peanuts.
“I take this opportunity to remind the government, the Minister for Education, Janet Kataha Museveni and the President himself, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni that all teachers are equal and we need all of them. It’s unjust to give favourable factors to one section and leave out the other struggling,” Kagodo said.
He said it was uncalled for to have science teachers’ salaries enhanced yet the ones for the arts teachers were not looked at.
The bishop made the remarks on Thursday as the teachers from Buikwe, Mukono, Jinja, Luuka, Iganga, Kamuli and other districts gathered at Lugazi Homestone College in Lugazi Municipality to commemorate the International Teachers’ day.
He noted: “Both science and Arts teachers spend the same time at school, buy food from the same markets, pay the same bills in the same hospitals and they also take children to the same schools. There is no reason for making the Arts teachers regret why they joined the profession.”
He urged Ugandans and government to always accord the necessary respect and treatment for the teachers because they are Very Important People (VIPs) despite the mistreatment some of them occasionally get.
He prayed for the teachers and asked them not to give-up saying God is always on their side. Teachers’ children in most of the times study through the thick and thin situations and graduate even when the others from well off people fails.
The bishop started the day by inspecting an exhibition where the students from the three campuses of Lugazi Homestone College, Homeland College Lugazi and Najjembe Homeland Senior Secondary School showcased what they do both in class and during their new curriculum setting projects.
Among the projects, the students showcased; the bakery, artwork, geography, chemistry, physics and biology experiments where students exhibited the skills of bisecting rats without killing them, among others.
Kagodo flanked by the Homeland schools director who is also the Luuka South Constituency Member of Parliament in Luuka district, Stephen Kisa, the Archdeacon of Lugazi Archdeaconry, Edward Kironde Balamaze, the Mukono diocesan education secretary and other clergymen officiated at the grand opening of the school’s science laboratory.
The bishop asked the students to utilise the laboratory well as they put it into consideration that it is one of the best in the district and well equipped.
The bishop also blessed the Primary Seven candidates from over 23 primary schools who turned up together with their teachers, the Senior Four and Senior Six candidates from the three Homeland schools.
Kisa the Lugazi Homeland schools director blessed the 2500 Primary Seven candidates who turned up with a geometry set and a pen which were handed over to them by Bp. Kagodo. He also contributed sh3m for the fundraising drive of the diocesan mission truck which requires over sh300m.
He said that he decided to use the International Teachers’ day to have a good number of teachers come together and celebrate together because it is also his profession.
About the unequal science and arts teachers’ salaries, Kisa said the government after sorting out the science teachers; it’s now targeting the arts section that will soon be sorted.
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