Browsing by Author "Ntale, Anita"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Minimum Wage and Women at Work
    (Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), 2019) Ntale, Anita
    A minimum wage is ideally the wage below which no worker in an economy should be paid. The ILO defines MW as; The minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract. It serves several purposes including the reduction of income poverty, income redistribution and the protection of vulnerable workers from exploitation. The protection of vulnerable workers is one of the key principles of MW legislation (DPRU 2016). In both developed and developing economies, vulnerable workers are typically marginalized groups like minorities, women, the youth and PLWDs2. When wages are determined entirely by the free market forces, these groups often do not have the bargaining power to demand higher wages especially in low-skilled sectors. This situation is even more pronounced in developing countries like Uganda because of the labour market structure. With limited wage employment, high informality, low trade union membership and significant dependence on a largely subsistence agricultural sector; elevated unemployment and underemployment levels mean that there is an over-supply of labour with more and more people willing to do the same work for less. In addition, poor pay in the formal sector contributes to the growth and expansion of the informal sector.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Reviving the grappling Education Sector: What can be done?
    (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2017) Lwanga, Musa Mayanja; Ntale, Anita
    This brief looks at the academic landscape in Uganda which is largely characterized by declining attainment and increasing dropout rates despite the government’s increased investment in the education sector. Statistics show that, Uganda attained its highest primary school completion rate of 63 percent in 2002, after which primary school completion rates have steadily fallen to about 56 percent in 2013. The brief points out that high levels of teacher absenteeism, insufficient funding, lack of infrastructure like class rooms, poor supervision and inspection as some of the leading causes of the falling completion rates. We make three recommends, one, reversing the policy that was passed in 2005 compelling schools to promote pupils irrespective of their performance. Two, rethinking the UPE funding that puts the responsibility of financing UPE squarely on the government. This has proved not to be economically viable given other competing priorities like infrastructure development, health, agriculture investment etc. A cost sharing model in which both parents and the government contribute to the funding of primary school education will reduce the funding constraint. With parents contributing to UPE, teachers can be paid a decent salary, more class rooms and other infrastructure can be built which will lead to improvement school outcomes. Three, increasing supervision and Inspection will go a long in curbing teacher absenteeism leading to increased teacher pupil interaction and thus improving learning outcomes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using taxation to control Tobacco consumption in Uganda
    (Economic Policy Research Centre, 2018) Ntale, Anita; Kasirye, Ibrahim
    This brief explores the trends in tobacco taxation in Uganda and highlights the importance of addressing factors that contribute to affordability when using taxation as a tobacco control tool. Drawn from a recent study by EPRC which simulates the potential impact of different tax changes on tobacco consumption, the brief underscores the need to make regular, consistent and uniform adjustments to the tobacco tax structure.