By Muhammed Ally Mukasa
The Deliberate Stratification of Uganda’s Teaching Profession.
In Uganda, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has instituted
a deliberate policy of discrimination within the teaching profession.
This strategy appears designed to fracture a previously unified and influential community.
Historically, teachers in Uganda presented a solid, united front, consistently
advocating for their collective interests and aligning politically with the opposition.
To dismantle this unity, the government implemented a divisive tactic: the
categorization of teachers into “science” and “arts” disciplines.
A substantial
salary increase, exceeding macroeconomic inflation trends, was granted
exclusively to science teachers.
Conversely, arts teachers were deliberately
excluded from these raises, their salaries left to stagnate far below the cost of
living, thereby cementing a state of financial precarity and demoralization.This calculated policy has yielded its intended result.
The teaching corps is now starkly divided, with science teachers largely co-opted into supporting the NRM,while arts teachers remain in opposition. This form of discrimination is not only immoral and dehumanizing but is also a likely violation of constitutional principles of equity.
The silence from other sectors of society in defence of these educators is both conspicuous and deeply concerning. It is difficult to comprehend the rationale behind systematically demoralizing the very individuals responsible for the foundational education of the nation’s youth.
The long-term consequences of this policy are dire.
A national tragedy is in the
making, as the demoralization of primary and secondary school educators—the
cornerstone of a child’s intellectual development—undermines the entire
educational system.
The resulting brain drain is a testament to the crisis.
Many of Uganda’s most talented educators have fled to countries like Rwanda, Tanzania,
and Zambia. In a desperate search for livelihood, some have even resorted to seeking work in conflict-ridden areas like South Sudan, while those who remain often struggle to survive through petty trade.
This neglect of a vital, productive sector stands in stark contrast to the government’s maintenance of a bloated and unproductive public sector.
A swollen parliament, an oversized civil service, and an ever-expanding local
government structure consume vast resources, placing an unsustainable burden
on the taxpayer.
The NRM government appears to prioritize financing these
resource-consuming sectors—which form its political base—over investing in
critical areas like education that genuinely drive long-term economic prosperity.
This misallocation of national resources sacrifices the country’s future for shortterm political survival.
The Great Illusion: How the NRM Weaponised Science to Divide a Nation. A
Mirage Masquerading as Progress.
The NRM’s so-called devotion to science is not a national vision—it is a political
illusion.
Beneath the rhetoric lies a cynical strategy of divide and rule, engineered
not to uplift Uganda but to safeguard the privileges of its ruling elite.
This pseudo–scientific crusade is a façade, a carefully constructed narrative designed
to breed loyalty rather than innovation.
Science, by its very nature, cannot
flourish in the swamp of corruption, sectarianism, and economic paralysis. It demands a stable, visionary state—one that funds, leads, and inspires at the macro level.
Without that leadership, “science” becomes just another slogan, empty and self-defeating.
The State Must Lead, or Nothing Will Grow.True scientific progress requires a torchbearer—the state.
The global capitalist system, dominated by Western powers, has little interest in seeing innovation rise from the Global South.
To resist that gravitational pull, developing nations must embrace state-driven capitalism, as China did, not the hollow, extractive private capitalism imported from the West.
Uganda’s policy of producing scientists without creating science-based industries to employ them is nothing short of absurd.
Training a legion of doctors when only a third can be absorbed into the health sector is economic madness.
What is the logic of educating talent for export? Each doctor who leaves represents a national loss—a squandered investment enriching someone else’s economy.
Demand, Not Rhetoric, Should Drive Supply.
In a rational system, demand drives supply. The state must generate scientific
demand through real, tangible projects. Yet Uganda’s leadership continues to
invert this logic—producing scientists for a science-less economy.
Without a national industrial base or state-led innovation, these graduates become
casualties of a political system that mistakes slogans for policy.
Economic growth is not born of speeches or slogans. It is born of leadership
culture—of a state that invests in progress rather than propaganda.
Uganda’s regime, however, consistently prioritises its own survival over national
development. Public funds are diverted not toward productive capital projects,
but toward politically convenient schemes designed to entrench power.
The Politics of Decay.
As political scientist Richard Wolff notes, collapsing regimes tend to indulge in
desperate crusades.
They wave flags, chant unity slogans, and drain national resources to defend illusions. Uganda’s own mantras—“never return to anarchy,”
“fight tribalism”—are recycled pretexts for hoarding power. They burn through the
nation’s wealth, accelerating decay rather than preventing it.
And when the decay becomes too obvious to hide, the culprits turn to moral
grandstanding. The same politicians who plunder the public purse dare to accuse
the poor—who pay taxes, till the land, and teach our children—of being
unpatriotic.
Who, then, is the real traitor: the teacher struggling to feed a family,
or the minister who flies abroad for healthcare while hospitals rot at home?
Teachers: The True Patriots.
Uganda’s teachers endure where others would have fled. They work in collapsing
classrooms, without electricity, running water, or proper pay. Yet when they
protest, the regime brands them unpatriotic and threatens them with dismissal.
This is not patriotism—it is oppression dressed as virtue.
In some constituencies, one Member of Parliament earns more in a month than
every teacher in the same area combined. Such inequality is not only
grotesque—it is an insult to the very idea of social justice.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels would have called it what it is: economic hypocrisy.
Teachers must be remunerated fairly, not discriminated against by subject or
prestige. They are the backbone of the nation’s intellect and the architects of its
future. To use them as pawns in the NRM’s survival game is both immoral and
unforgivable.
A Call for Renewal.
Uganda deserves better—a system that rewards labour, not loyalty; integrity, not
allegiance.
Let the next political order, perhaps under the National Unity Platform, dismantle this edifice of discrimination and restore justice to those who build the nation with chalk and courage.
Long live the teachers of Uganda. You are the
nation’s conscience. You are not forgotten. United, we shall rise again.
Email: mukasa123456@outlook.com
Have An Advert Or Article You Want Us To Publish? Whatsapp: +256786288379 or email binocularugnews@gmail.com
