The Plight of Primary Teachers in Museveni’s Covid 19 locked neo-liberal state: Kamuli primary teacher commits suicide over COVID debts
Teachers quit teaching
August 26, 2020 Written by Zurah Nakabugo Without jobs and regular salary for months, teachers are being pushed to the brink of financial ruin. Alone and unsupported, many teachers
have suffered the harshest brunt of the months-long Covid-19-induced
lockdown and are beginning to look beyond the classroom. A random survey
of destitute teachers yielded plenty of reasons why they have turned to
lowly jobs like brick-making, charcoal burning, hawking, riding boda
bodas, taxi driving, selling meat, fruit and vegetables, and working on
construction sites. Many have lost hope of returning to
the classroom. In separate interviews, many teachers spoke of dashed
hopes, lost jobs and their daily struggles to live. Nationwide, many
desperate teachers pushed out of taxpaying jobs by the Covid-19-induced
lockdown are beginning to flood markets, washing bays and garages
foraging for any available jobs. Pauline
Nakisekka, an English and Mathematics teacher at St Joseph’s Girls
primary school, Nsambya, hasn’t earned a salary since February. Threatened
by starvation, Nakisekka, a mother of three, changed from the smart
classroom dresses into the dirty overalls of charcoal burners. She has since switched to brick-making after starving for a long time with her three children. She spent all her small salary. “When I realized there was no sign of
lifting the lockdown for teachers, and we had eaten all the food I had
stocked, I cried. I thought of setting up a shop but didn’t have
capital. Then thought of poultry farming but all the chicken and eggs
were floating on the market during lockdown; I got confused,” she says
in an interview with The Observer . Nakisekka says before Covid-19 broke
out, she was a small farmer. But her farm, she said, was hard to reach
when public transport was locked down too. Her husband was also locked
abroad where he works as a casual labourer (kyeyo). Ultimately, she
decided to turn to brick-making since she could do the work near home
with little capital to start. “I had little experience in
brick-making. But I used to assist my husband make bricks to build our
house. However, during the lockdown, brick-making was the easiest job to
divert to since I could work near home while observing the ministry of
Health Covid-19 guidelines and bricks are not perishable…,” she says. As of Monday, August 24, Uganda had a
total of 2,263 Covid-19 cases, 1,226 recoveries and 20 deaths. According
to Nakisekka, she and her children wake up at 6am and go at Namavundu,
Gayaza, where she rents land at about Shs 200,000 to make bricks. “We cleared the bush with my children
and hired brick-makers to excavate the normal soil to make bricks.
However, they disappointed me. They didn’t return to work after I paid
deposits,” she says. “I decided to dig and crush soil by
myself. I also used a wooden brick-shaper to make bricks. My children
assisted me. But after a few days, we all got back pain since our bodies
were not used. We almost stopped working,” she says. She didn’t give up, she said, but
advised her children to fetch water for her to make bricks. So far, she
has burnt a heap of 10,000 bricks, and sold all. She reinvested the
proceeds and kept Shs 600,000 in profit for her children’s school fees
when schools reopen. Nakisekka says she will continue making bricks to
shore up her teaching salary. “Most teachers have suffered during
the lockdown, but I advise them to change their poor mindset about
casual jobs and focus on what they can earn from such jobs. As teachers,
we are used to being smartly dressed and sit in classroom, and wait for
the monthly salary. But as the world changes today, it’s wise to have a
side income job,” she says. Nakisekka adds, “Many teachers
suffered when schools closed due to lack of side income jobs. Don’t
think brick-makers are desperate; they are serious businessmen, with
families and have big investments. I have interacted with them, and
learnt a lot.” She urged government to first give
counseling sessions to teachers before they return to classes when
schools open because most of them have been psychologically and
physically traumatized by poverty. “Even the Shs 2bn Sacco money given to
teachers will not help us much, since we get it in a group of 30
teachers and each group gets Shs 30m. This means each teacher will get
only Shs 1m with an interest rate,” she says. Butcher Issah Nsubuga, a Mathematics and SST
teacher at St. Kizito Bishop Mukwaya primary school, Gayaza, says when
schools closed, he crossed to selling meat at Gayaza market. “Since my relatives were selling meat
here, and sometimes I could help them over the weekend, I asked for
recruitment at their butcher shop,” he says. Teacher Issa Nsubuga of Bishop Mukwaya primary school now sells meat Nsubuga says he managed to beat off
stiff competition in the market and got a string of customers. He says
he can now put food on the table for his family. Nsubuga wants
government to open schools. He says many pupils have dropped out of
school altogether during lockdown and others will be promoted by schools
desperate to earn money. Bogere Sylvia Nalongo, a History and
CRE teacher at St Mathias Secondary School Iganga, is now selling
clothes at Gayaza family store. “Before the lockdown, I had started a
small shop to support my little salary. And after working for three
months, they closed all shops and schools. I got stuck since I had
invested all my money in the shop. I started selling fish in my village
from door to door during the whole lockdown,” she says. She says when the lockdown was
partially lifted; she resumed selling second-hand clothes. She says she
does a lot of marketing of her products on social media platforms. Car wash Deogratious Hibisye, an English and
Science teacher at Kasozi Standard primary school, Kasangati, says since
the lockdown, he joined the car wash business at Skylon washing bay,
Gayaza. “The headmaster thought the lockdown
would take only two weeks as the president used to say. So, he didn’t
pay our salary. But after realizing the lockdown was being extended
endlessly, I was forced to join the car wash business, which didn’t need
capital to start. I use my energy,” he says. Hibisye says since he had friends at
the car wash bay, they encouraged him to join them. “I am paid per day,
depending on the number of cars I wash. We charge from Shs 10,000 to Shs
15,000 depending on how dirty the car is,” he says, adding that at
least, they wash more than 15 cars daily. He advises all teachers not to
disrespect jobs, if they want to succeed. Matoke and fruit dealer Aidat Namubiru, a Primary Seven
teacher at Red Hamisha primary school Masanafu, says she started selling
matooke and fruits during the lockdown. “I got the idea of investing in Matoke
and fruits because the two needed little capital to start and many
people were buying food and fruits to boost their immunity to fight off
Covid-19,” she says. Namubiru says her business picked up
quickly because she was doing home deliveries since many people were
locked home and couldn’t move long distances to big markets. “However it’s now failing, we have
very few clients and others have returned to their villages where they
don’t buy food…,” she says. Painter Sam Balikuddembe, a teacher at
Brilliant School, Wakiso, says to avoid depression during the lockdown,
he started to work at construction sites as a painter in June. “Painting was the only option for me
to get food for my children since my fellow teachers were also builders
at different construction sites. I didn’t know painting that much but I
learnt on the job,” he says. zuraneetah2015@gmail.com A primary teacher in Kamuli district has
taken his own life allegedly due to accumulated debts. Jimmy Buyonga,
32, a teacher at Kasambira Preparatory primary school in Bugulumbya
sub-county in eastern Uganda hanged himself at the school premises.
