Parents decry tough times as schools plan to reopen

Pupils attend a lesson in Kiige Primary School in Kamuli District in 2019. Many parents are pondering where they will get fees and other requirements before  schools reopen in January. Photo/Sam Caleb Opio 

What you need to know:

  • Many parent have developed a cold feet towards the reopening of school because they cannot afford fees. 

Before the country recorded its first Covid-19 case, President Museveni in March last year ordered the closure of all institutions of learning as a preventative measure.
Uganda would go on to have the longest pandemic-enforced closure of schools. The schools were, however, recently given the green light to open in January regardless of the uptake of Covid-19 jabs.

As the clock ticks towards that date, parents might feel relieved that the burden of keeping their children at home has come to an end. Majority of them are nevertheless pondering where they will get fees and other requirements. The pandemic left a number of them either jobless or financially crippled.
Mr Ismail Mwesigwa, a journalist based in Buyende District, is one such person. He says “his head feels like bursting” at the thought of schools reopening in January.

“I am experiencing a headache on how and who to prioritise because just as my girl entered Senior One, Covid came and fees was wasted,” he revealed, adding: “As they plan to reopen, her elder sister is joining university on private sponsorship and she has just brought me the admission yet I have two others in primary.”
Ms Lovisa Naisanga, a widow who sells local brew in Kamuli Industrial area, said: “I used to pay fees even in advance after selling three jerrycans of malwa (local brew) on average daily, but since the Covid-induced lockdown, I can hardly sell two jerrycans in a day.”
Mr Nicholas Akol, a teacher and father of four schoolgoing children in boarding schools, raises the unresolved issue of whether schools will carry forward the fees paid before lockdown.

Tough times
In Namutumba District, Mr Patrick Waiswa, a resident of Bulafa Village, Namutumba Sub-county, who was a teacher at Hidden Treasure Vocational Training Centre, Kakunyu in Wakiso District, said the future looks bleak.
“I lost my teaching job whose monthly salary paid fees for my children in boarding schools. As schools reopen, I will take them to government-aided schools as I look for another job,” Mr Waiswa, who is currently into bricklaying, said.

Mr Enock Musasizi, who was a boda boda rider at Bulange Stage in Namutumba Town Council, said — after losing his motorcycle over alleged failure to repay a loan — he has exhausted his savings.
“As schools reopen next year, my children will not report to school because I will not be able to buy the necessities like uniforms, books and pencils,”  he said.
In Wakiso District, a parent who declined to be named said his child spent almost one-and-a-half years in Primary Seven before he could sit for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) exams due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“He performed fairly well but was unfortunate not to get a place in any of the schools he chose for Senior One. After selections, as a parent, I had to run around the top schools in and around Kampala to get him a place,” the parent said, adding: “I have had to part with Shs50,000 for registration and almost Shs2 million for fees after being shortlisted. But one glance at the admission letter and I still have to part with almost another Shs1.5m for requirements.”
 “I have two other children going to resume school in January. I see myself getting into costs of between Shs7m and Shs8m in just one term,”  he added.

In a bind
In Teso Sub-region, Mr Benjamin Emokoki, a resident of Kapujan, Toroma Trading centre, Toroma Sub-county,  Katakwi District,  says the most plausible issue now is for schools to reopen. He reckons there is no way out, adding that, “the fact remains that we need our children to be in school.”
Ms Grace Adeke, another parent, says as a farmer, she relies on livestock to meet both school fees and other basic needs for her children. 

“I know it will not be something easy to have children back to school, crops have failed because of poor rains throughout the year, and the solution at hand will have to be to rely on livestock,” she explained.
In Ntoroko District, Ms Judith Asiimwe, a parent from Karugutu, suggested that when schools reopen, the learners should be allowed to study for one month without being sent home for fees.
“I know school owners don’t have money to run their schools, but we (parents) also don’t have money yet we want our children to report back to school; therefore, schools should give us a grace period of one month,” she said.

Mr John Tumusiime, a parent from Kamwenge District, said last year he was laid off from a tour company and is not sure whether any of his three children will report back to school, considering that he needs more than Shs2m per term.
“If I am to take them back to school, I need to get a bank loan because at the moment, I don’t have money for fees,” he said.
Compiled by Philip Wafula, Sam Opio Caleb, Ronald Seebe, Denis Edema, Simon Peter Emwamu, Alex Ashaba & Charity Akullo