Eronda
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
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Some science teachers in Kabale district have become more alcoholic and neglected their classroom responsibilities after benefiting from government salary enhancements, the district education officer (DEO), Mowes Bwengye Tumwijukye, has said.
The government increased salaries for science teachers beginning in the 2022/2023 financial year. Graduate science teachers now earn about Shs 4 million per month, while science head teachers earn up to Shs 6.5 million.
Speaking during the official handover of the former National Teachers’ College (NTC) Kabale to the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) Council on Thursday, Bwengye said the salary enhancement had, in some cases, produced unintended consequences.
He revealed that some science teachers had failed to invest their increased earnings in savings or income-generating ventures and had instead turned to excessive alcohol consumption.
According to him, some have even acquired loans to sustain their drinking habits. Bwengye said the district has so far lost two teachers to alcohol-related complications and that some teachers no longer devote adequate time to classroom instruction because they spend much of their time in bars.
He said the situation should serve as a lesson for UNITE as it seeks to produce competent and professional teachers, emphasizing the need to strengthen discipline, ethical conduct and professionalism among trainee teachers.
Professor James Tumwine, dean of the School of Medicine at Kabale University and former chairperson of the governing council of NTC Kabale, called for the establishment of a support committee comprising social workers and counsellors to assist teachers and students facing alcohol-related and other social challenges.
Source:The Observer
The government increased salaries for science teachers beginning in the 2022/2023 financial year. Graduate science teachers now earn about Shs 4 million per month, while science head teachers earn up to Shs 6.5 million.
Speaking during the official handover of the former National Teachers’ College (NTC) Kabale to the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) Council on Thursday, Bwengye said the salary enhancement had, in some cases, produced unintended consequences.
He revealed that some science teachers had failed to invest their increased earnings in savings or income-generating ventures and had instead turned to excessive alcohol consumption.
According to him, some have even acquired loans to sustain their drinking habits. Bwengye said the district has so far lost two teachers to alcohol-related complications and that some teachers no longer devote adequate time to classroom instruction because they spend much of their time in bars.
He said the situation should serve as a lesson for UNITE as it seeks to produce competent and professional teachers, emphasizing the need to strengthen discipline, ethical conduct and professionalism among trainee teachers.
Professor James Tumwine, dean of the School of Medicine at Kabale University and former chairperson of the governing council of NTC Kabale, called for the establishment of a support committee comprising social workers and counsellors to assist teachers and students facing alcohol-related and other social challenges.
Source:The Observer
