EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL
The main issues for consultation and negotiation will be salary increments and special allowances for hardship postings and for science teachers, as well as delays in salary payments, unexplained deletions of teachers from the payroll and government contributions to the teachers’ savings and credit schemes.
CITIZENS’ ACTION FOR QUALITY EDUCATION UNATU considers that its relative success so far has been because they have drawn up a well designed strategy and plan of action; used a rights-based framework for their demands; they have adopted multi-stakeholder approach and because of the industrial action which took place in 2011. The union has conducted mass awareness campaigns on the key issues concerning terms and conditions of employment and the right to collective bargaining, through printing leaflets, through the media such as local radios and through training courses for union leaders and the membership. The purpose of this mass awareness is also to build confidence and minimize the fear factor. They have also developed a communication strategy to support the quick flow of information to all union members and the wider public. They use a bulk SMS texting system which is relatively cheap and very effective. As part of the coalition that forms the Citizen’s Action campaign, UNATU is viewed as a key education stakeholder, putting the child at the forefront. UNATU has strong partners through the campaign, such as Action Aid International Uganda, Uganda Joint Christian Council, the Uganda Muslim Education Association and the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda, as well as legal resource centres. In this way, when UNATU puts forward issues related to teachers, the coalition as a whole is willing to support them. In 2010, the Ministry of Education decided to introduce a system of “performance contracts”, which were very one-sided. UNATU was able to turn the issue to its advantage by arguing that while teachers had duties and responsibilities, so did the government and that the contracts should become support mechanisms for improving education and that they should be consulted with other stakeholders. The union demands have been backed by research using careful analysis of the budget, such as the proportion allocated to education compared to other sectors, and the proportion of the GDP allocated to education, and by providing comparisons from other countries and unions.
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The union has also carried out lobbying with the relevant Parliamentary committees, and submitted petitions to parliament. There is a cross-party “quality education forum” in Parliament, and the Speaker of Parliament is the Patron. This forum is an important body as it has the potential to influence budgetary decisions.