Pay rises for head teachers

This is an extract from the "New Times" at the end of October. These pay rises are overdue and might help motivate and retain more head teachers in their posts. Now what we want next is a general pay rise for all teachers, and incentive pay to reward outstanding performance....

Government has increased the salaries of primary and secondary head teachers in a move that is likely to motivate school heads to strive for quality within the education sector.

The move to increase the salaries was confirmed by a Cabinet meeting that sat on Wednesday.
“Head teachers with A2 level (secondary certificate) have been getting a net salary of Rwf 29, 000 and an allowance of Rwf 12,500 making it Rwf 41, 500 altogether, but now their salary has been increased to Rwf 60, 000,” Dr. Mathias Harebamungu, State Minister for Primary and Secondary education said.

“Those with A0 level (bachelor’s degree) were getting a basic salary of Rwf 113,000 which has been increased to Rwf 180, 000.” (Per month).

It comes at a time when many teachers in different parts of the country still complain of delays in receiving their salaries.

The education ministry attributed the delays in salary payments to the district authorities.

To put this money in context, £1 is about 1000 francs. My VSO allowance is RwF170,000 per month.