EDITORIAL: Renewed bid to improve teachers' welfare laudable

While teachers may not get a pay raise in the next Financial Year per se, there is a raft of new incentives expected to significantly improve the living conditions of teachers and their families. Officials at the Ministry of Education last week announced that teachers in public and government aided schools will, effective January, start to receive an annual bonus, usually payable once a year and equal to a month’s salary. Government also says it will revitalise other incentives for teachers, including the programme to give them cows, best known as Girinka Mwalimu, and facilitating them to easily acquire computers. Most importantly, government has kick started a scheme to provide shelter to teachers, starting with those in basic education schools. Already, works have started in each of the 416 sectors, beginning with the construction of staff quarters that can accommodate at least eight teachers. However, to ensure value for money and to reward performance, these incentives should specially go to teachers that have demonstrated high levels of commitment to their job. These noble initiatives are in addition to government’s commitment to continually strengthen the teachers’ savings and credit cooperative, Umwalimu-SACCO, especially through incremental disbursements of Rwf5 billion to increase the cooperative’s lending capacity. Meanwhile, the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education announced that government continues to look into other mechanisms to improve the welfare of teachers, including a proposal to pay school fees for at least two children of every teacher. We urge government to pursue this proposal further with view to implement it as soon as possible because it would go a long way in easing education burden for most teachers. It is particularly heartwarming that both the existing and proposed incentives will also cover teachers in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system, an important stream of training that will play a major role in delivering on the country’s skills development and employment creation agenda. These incentives, if implemented, will make a whole lot of deference in the teaching profession, enhance the status and welfare of teachers, and subsequently positively impact on quality of education.

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EDITORIAL: Renewed bid to improve teachers' welfare laudable