By Sekaggya Seka Moses
A crisis has hit the marking of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) senior four exam papers after 56 teachers walked off the job in protest over their low pay.
The teachers, who were tasked with marking the agriculture paper one exam scripts, were shocked to discover that they would only receive shs950 for each script.
The teachers expressed their dissatisfaction with the payment rate, stating that it did not reflect the demanding nature of their work.
They claimed that the amount was far too low, especially given the increased workload under the new lower secondary curriculum.
Many of them felt they deserved at least shs1500 per paper due to the extra responsibilities involved in marking.
“We were not told how much we would be paid until we arrived at the marking center,” Mbulalina said.
Aleleu added that under the new curriculum, they were required to do much more compared to the old curriculum, and it was unreasonable to expect them to complete all their work for such a low payment.
Despite previous attempts to negotiate better pay with UNEB, the teachers felt their concerns had been ignored.
When it became clear that UNEB was not willing to raise their pay, they decided to leave instead of continuing under those conditions. Some of their colleagues chose to stay and continue marking despite their dissatisfaction.
The teachers who left were marking at Namugongo Secondary and Vocational School Centre.
UNEB spokesperson Jennifer Kalule confirmed that 56 examiners had indeed abandoned their duties. She noted that UNEB had tried to negotiate with them but that the teachers ultimately decided to walk away.
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The walkout has raised concerns about the timely completion of the marking exercise and the potential impact on the release of the exam results.
UNEB has yet to comment on how it plans to address the situation.
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