The Minister of Education Janet Museveni has cautioned private and public secondary schools who are charging ‘unrealistic’ and ‘prohibitive’ school fees without permission from the Ministry of Education.
The Minister and First Lady said this contravenes government’s objective of providing affordable education to all since it sidelines the low income earners.
In a press conference shortly after releasing the 2016 UACE results, Janet Museveni said; “these fees have been raised arbitrarily and without recourse to the established procedure which requires schools intending to raise fees to seek permission from the Ministry of Education”.
The Minister said she has instructed the Permanent Secretary (Ministry of Education) to re-issue the existing guidelines that should be followed by all headteachers, Boards of Governors of secondary schools and be enforced by authorities at the Central and Local Governments.
“No secondary school shall increase school charges for whatever reason without authorization from the Permanent Secretary,” the Minister said.
Since the resumption of the academic year, parents and the general public have raised concern over the costly requirements both material and financial demanded by both private and traditional government schools.
Some people have in fact come to conclude that it’s much cheaper to educate a child at university than in a secondary school.
In the case of USE schools, Janet Museveni warned against barring school fees defaulters from attending classes even when parents have voluntarily agreed to contribute towards certain emergencies.
“No student shall be excluded from school on account of a parent’s failure to pay the agreed amount.”
Regarding schools that increase school fees on account of raising PTA allowances for staff, Janet said; “PTA allowances to staff are not a right for government schools therefore schools shouldn’t raise fees basing on that.”
“PTA allowances shouldn’t be claimed in arrears beyond a school’s budget year. Where schools employ teachers in addition to those on the government pay roll, permission should be sought to use part of capitation grant to pay their salaries.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry has given all secondary schools (private and government aided) up to March 10 to have submitted their fees structures for the last 3 years; 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Ministry says some schools have been operating without the approved budget requirements.
In another related aspect, the Minister told the press that government might consider insisting that private investors in the education re-invest their profits in the sector.
“We let private schools run their schools because they are private but if they are generating a lot of revenue and allow it to go elsewhere, we shall begin to insist that they re-invest that money for the sake of the schools,” she said.