The teachers, under their umbrella body, the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU), yesterday met with President Yoweri Museveni at Kololo Independence grounds. It was arranged to chart a way forward over calls to end their three-week-old strike.
After the meeting, UNATU called off the teachers’ strike and promised that they would be returning to class today.
“We decided to suspend the industrial action as we continue to engage the government for the good of our learners and the teachers,” said UNATU General Secretary, Filbert Baguma.
While appearing in an interview this morning, Baguma disclosed more details from the meeting.
According to Baguma, they didn’t lose the battle but just chose to continue the discussion rather than close it.
“We have met the President twice in three weeks and the vice president as well. We had nowhere else to go other than to continue with the discussions,” said Baguma.
He further claimed that they had gained a lot from the industrial action.
“We got public and government attention. The government said they realize our issues and they’ll be addressed going forward. We can’t say we came out with nothing,” he said.