When the government announced a 10 per cent pay rise for teachers in 2019, it felt like the response was generally positive although, for most teachers, their pay remained far below the monthly minimum salary of Rwf80,000 that their union was asking for at the time. However, many teachers would later show that they were far from satisfied as many continued to abandon the profession. As many as 1000 teachers resigned every month, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente told a joint parliamentary session on Monday. And, that appears to have been a major factor in the government’s decision to give teachers major pay increases, with Ngirente announcing that primary school teachers with A2 qualifications would get an 88 per cent rise, while those with A1 certificates and A0 (bachelor’s degree) would receive a 40 per cent rise. As a result, the lowest paid primary teacher will take home Rwf108, 488 a month, up from Rwf57, 639, while A1 certificate and A0 holders will receive Rwf191,811 (up from Rwf136,895) and Rwf246,384 (from Rwf176,189) in monthly pay, respectively. While teachers remain among the lowest paid professionals, the rises are so significant they take each of the three teacher categories above the minimum pay that the National Union of Teachers in Rwanda (SNER) was pushing for. Furthermore, the pay rises are just a part a broader effort to retain and improve the welfare of educationists, along with other initiatives, including the decision to recapitalise the teachers’ savings and credit cooperative (Umwalimu-Sacco) with Rwf5 billion – a move expected to ensure that teachers access bigger loan facilities. The developments are expected to make the teaching profession more attractive and help improve the welfare of teachers and their families. In Africa, teachers in public schools are generally among the lowest paid professionals, which results in high turnover, moonlighting, low productivity and, ultimately, poor quality education. This is counterproductive for particularly countries like Rwanda that have placed human capital at the heart of their development trajectory. And, therefore, the latest effort to turn around the fortunes of teachers should only serve as the beginning of a deliberate, long-term strategy to celebrate, dignify and recognise our teachers and to uplift their livelihoods and the teaching profession.
