President Museveni warns gov’t schools about illegal fees.

Headteachers of schools implementing universal primary and secondary school programs have once again received warnings from President Yoweri Museveni against charging students illegal fees. This comes as different heads of UPE and USE schools protest that the Shs20,000 allocated per child per year is not enough.

The President, while presiding over the launch of the National Patriotism Environmental Protection Campaign at Kitebi Secondary School on April 19, emphasized the need for schools to cease extracting funds from financially disadvantaged parents.

He noted that, “the issue of school charges up to now has not been fully implemented because some people think education is a business. They continue getting money from poor parents yet government said let the children in government schools study for free”.

“The rich who have money, can take their children to private schools. Those of the poor, should study for free in government schools,” Museveni added.

In order to improve children from low-income families’ access to education, the government implemented the UPE policy in 1997.

The President and officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports have warned repeatedly about the illegality of school fees, but the majority of public schools still impose some sort of fee to cover expenses such as meals, teacher salaries for non-government work, and partial payment for utilities, among other needs.

President Museveni has issued a similar caution against charging fees for examinations and results slips to government-aided schools across the nation in 2021.

One of the main causes of high school dropout, according to experts, is still the high cost of education.

Ugandan households borrow money for at least thirty percent of their fees, according to estimates from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Ministry of Education and Sports reports that one million students leave school early before passing the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).