Nyarugenge teachers protest scraping of cash incentives

Teachers from various public primary and secondary schools in Nyarugenge District has expressed their displeasure over the district’s recent decision to scrap their financial incentives.The District Advisory Council (DAC), earlier this week adopted a resolution to abolish the cash incentives commonly called Umukenyero wa mwalimu, put in place by the former district advisory council back in 2006 to motivate the instructors.In an interview with The New Times, Alex Muhumezi, the headmaster of Ecole Primaire Kamuhoza in Kimisagara, Kigali, said the council should not have stopped the scheme as teachers still earn meager salaries compared to other public servants.“This teachers’ incentive has been a unique programme in our district and scrapping it is not good at all because it has been motivating teachers . It has been influential in improving the quality of education in our district,” he explained.The head teacher of Ecole Primaire Muhima, Jean de Deiu Niyonsenga, requested the district to hold consultations with public school teachers across the district over the issue, saying this would enable both parties to find an amicable solution.Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, the Mayor of Nyarugenge District, Solange Mukasonga, disclosed that the decision was reached after realising that the district was financially constrained to pay the allowances. She disclosed that the district is set to pay Rwf 70 million worth of arrears that had accumulated over the years.“The District Advisory Council found it necessary to stop this programme because the district had failed to pay this money since 2006 and on top of that, the money was continuing to accumulate,” the Mayor explained. According to her, under the arrangement, every teacher in the district was supposed to get an incentive of Rwf 13,000 per term, which she said was beyond the district’s capacity.“Before the government decentralisation programme started in 2006, Nyarugenge District had very few schools, but after merging it with the former Nyamirambo and Butamwa districts, it became big and currently, the district has over 50 schools. This means that we can no longer afford to pay teachers incentives under this programme.”However, the mayor noted that teachers still fetch their usual incentives under the Parents Teachers Associations (PTA).She noted that the district would continue to work with parents and other stakeholders to continue to promote the teachers’ welfare and the quality of education in the district.Mukasonga also stated that the district was working with Umwalimu SACCO to provide credit to teachers to acquire laptops and plots of land to construct affordable houses under the government’s community settlement programme.

National

Nyarugenge teachers protest scraping of cash incentives