When teachers threatened to go on strike like a month ago everything seemed like a joke until today when the teachers did good their threat and failed to report to their duties.

Even though the government had initiated efforts to stall the strike, the teachers have dug in their heels and said they would only report back to work if the government heeded to their demands.
Now at stake is the education of millions of children who only reported back to school only two weeks ago after the long December holiday.

The bone of contention is the payment of Shs 17.3 billion salary increment. Majority of the 245,000 teachers have boycotted work, paralysed learning in schools to force the government to accept their terms over the salary offer.

The government has so far threatened to sack all those who would get involved in the strike but still the teachers were not cowed and have vowed to hold onto their demands.

The country’s teachers union has proved a hard nut to crack as efforts by education minister to coax it to call off the strike has so far yielded no fruits.

The teacher’s service commission has threatened to dismiss or withhold the salaries of those who participate in the strike. It has also threatened those living in school houses with eviction.
This is not the first time teachers are going on strike due to salary disagreements with the government but this time it will hit hard on parents and children who are always the victims whenever this happens.

It’s the high time the government rose up to the occasion and restored some normalcy to our education sector which also suffered a serious blow during last year’s chaos.

And as the cost of living continues to skyrocket, the teachers have a reason to revolt if their plight is not looked at considerably.

They can as well feel the heat that comes with economic recession and paying taxes, so we need to see our children back to school and this can only happen if the government heeded to the teachers’ demands.