Teachers threaten to quit over unpaid salaries

WESTERN REGION KARONGI - Teachers in Karongi District have threatened to quit their jobs or sue the district over unpaid salaries. The furious teachers who talked to The New Times yesterday claim they have not been paid their wages for the last seven months, since they were recruited following the adoption of the nine-year basic education programme. Some of the affected teachers are those who were transferred to new stations. They said it was ‘very unfortunate’ that they have never accessed a single penny ever since they were transferred. “My wife is now the bread winner and my existence is insignificant these days. I practically make no contribution to the welfare of the family,” Innocent Kabengera, the head teacher of Groupe Scholarie de Kibuye said. “If the staff members are not paid for such along time, how do you expect them to help model the children? How are we expected to produce good work with poor facilitation?” Kabengera wondered. Berthilde Mukantaganzwa was appointed headmistress at Groupe Scholarie de Nyabikenke on February 4 2009, but like her counterpart, she has never seen a penny. Mukantaganzwa said many of the teachers have no option but to quit. “We cannot go on strike; we shall simply quit and find something else to do. We cannot afford to continue convincing each other that things will get better,” she said. Karongi district Mayor Bernard Kayumba acknowledged the delays, saying the problem was due to budgetary constraints cutting across the whole country. “The problem has not been unique to our district but this month (July) all those with complaints will be sorted out,” he said. Ends

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Teachers threaten to quit over unpaid salaries