Businesses in Musanze District in the Northern Province have come up with a novel idea; they have opened a discount shop to benefit teachers in and around the district. Teaching is one of the most poorly paying civil service professions, especially in primary and secondary schools. Despite the government having come up with Umwalimu Sacco, a savings and credit scheme, to help improve the welfare of teachers, getting another lifeline like the Musanze initiative could be a plus. The discount shop not only offers teachers foodstuff well below the market prices, it also offers credit when the teachers are financially challenged. Discount stores are not new. The uniformed services have something similar; the Army Shop which offers members of the armed services similar services to complement their salaries. Now the people who came up with the idea of teachers’ discount shops have petitioned the government to give them a tax holiday on some imported goods so that their clients could benefit, but that needs to be treated with extreme care as it could be subject to abuse by some unscrupulous traders. The idea should instead – as suggested by one senior education official – be channelled through Umwalimu Sacco, otherwise every other profession will soon be clamouring for similar preferential treatment. But the idea of easing the burden of meeting everyday expenses for the less privileged should not be discounted all together, it just needs to be streamlined to plug any loopholes. But kudos to the Musanze traders who recognise the importance of teachers’ contribution to society.
