Moonlighting - it'll soon be official...

The is the word for word text of a news article in today's "New Times". Teachers are notoriously badly paid, and as a result the profession has low public esteem in Rwanda. Basic salaries are about RwF26000 per month (30 pounds), but there is a "prime" of bonus which augments it by about a third. It's still not enough to live on with a family. As VSO volunteers we receive RwF170,000 per month.

Teachers have been challenged to be innovative and venture into other income generating activities to supplement their earnings.

The challenge was made Thursday by Joseph Murekeraho, the Director of the Umwalimu Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) during the teachers’ workshop in Kigali.

“Teachers should not just be content with their basic salaries. You should engage in other income generating activities in order to raise more money to support your families,” he said, asking teachers to invest their earnings into profitable projects.

O.K., so if all the teachers start moonlighting, howe are they going to have time to prepare work or mark books?