15-year-old girl drops out of school over fees increment

Irene Babirye, 15, sells chips by the roadside in Boston Trading Centre in Makindye Division to survive.

Babirye, who was in Senior Four at Spring Field Secondary School in Nakifuma Sub-county, Kayunga District at the time of the closure of schools in March 2020, says she will not be returning to school because the administration informed them that they were increasing fees. 

She says at the time of the closure of schools in 2020, the school was charging them Shs89,000 for fees but now this has been increased to Shs200,000.

“My hope for a better life was in education but I had to give up on my studies to look for money and take care of myself because my mother doesn’t have money to pay for my fees,” Babirye says.

She adds that when government allowed candidates to return to school and sit for exams in 2020, she was unable to join her colleagues for the same reason.

“I had wanted to register for Uneb exams but when I went back to school, everything had been increased and I chose to return home because we had no money,” she says. 

Babirye says she started doing business to support her family after her father, Emmanuel Nsubuga, contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalised. He died on December 20,2021

She adds that her mother sold most of her property to pay for her father’s medical expenses.
She is employed by a one Aisha at a chips stall where she earns Shs5,000 per day.

She adds that her hopes for education are no more since she can’t find money for school fees.

“If I get money in future, I will pay someone to teach me how to plait hair and later I’ll find money to start my own saloon. I would be patient to save for school but by the time I get money, I’ll be too old to sit in class,” Babirye adds.

Dropouts
Government closed all education institutions in March 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The closure of schools caused many school-going pupils to take up part time businesses during the pandemic to support their families.   

In November 2021, the National Planning Authority (NPA) projected that more than 30 percent out of the 15 million learners that were in schools before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Uganda will drop out of school. This means that around  4.5 million learners will be dropping out of school.