Teachers’ strike cripples examination services in Pader town council

10 October 2025, 18:36

By Ekel Bonny Daniel

Operators of examination services in Pader town council are grappling with plummeting sales as the ongoing teachers’ strike continues to disrupt learning in government schools, leaving classrooms deserted and education-dependent businesses in distress.

For four weeks since the term began, schools across Uganda have remained closed following industrial action by teachers under the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU), demanding salary harmonisation and fair treatment among civil servants.

The strike has affected not only learners but also small-scale enterprises whose income depends on the education cycle including examination distributors, stationers, and book suppliers.

In Pader town council, sales agents who once thrived on the busy school term now struggle to make ends meet.

Nahwera Annitah, a sales agent with Centenary Examination Services, says business has drastically declined since the strike began.

She explains that operations have slowed because most of their clients who are teachers from government schools are not working, leaving only a handful of private schools to buy examination papers.

Before the strike, Centenary Examination Services served a full customer base, but sales have now fallen by nearly half.

Currently, the company is dealing mainly with Primary Seven candidates, who form the only active market segment.

“The situation is really tough for us right now,” Nahwera said. “We are only managing to sell exams to a few private schools, and that is not enough to sustain the business.”

At Sipro Educational Services Limited, the situation is even worse. Sales agent Akello Mercy said their current sales stand at below 5%, compared to the 80–90% they made in normal school terms.

“Private schools in Pader are very few, and that makes it hard for us to realise any profit,” she said with frustration.

A sales agent from Prime Examination Services, who requested anonymity, revealed that their performance has dropped to below 10%.

“By now, schools would have already completed beginning-of-term exams and be preparing for midterms, but we are still holding unsold papers,” the agent said.

All exam sellers in Pader town council say they are surviving on sales to candidate classes mainly Primary Seven but since there are many vendors targeting the same small market, profits have shrunk sharply.

Meanwhile, there is renewed optimism that striking teachers may soon resume work after parliament pledged to urgently address salary disparities affecting civil servants on strike.

The assurance came after petitions by UNATU, the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) association, and the Uganda Local Government Workers’ Union (ULGWU) on October 8, 2025.

During a heated session chaired by Speaker Anita Among, UNATU’s Filbert Baguma urged parliament to treat the wage inequality as a national concern, citing the government’s 2022 decision to favor science teachers, which widened pay gaps.

Speaker Among directed relevant parliamentary committees to investigate the matter and promised to push for a lasting solution through the 2026/2027 national budget, urging teachers to return to classrooms as negotiations continue.

For business operators like Nahwera, Mercy, and others in Pader, such assurances bring a glimmer of hope.

Their livelihoods now depend on the government and teachers finding common ground soon.

“If schools reopen, we can recover,” said Nahwera softly. “But for now, we’re just waiting and praying.”