Schools defy govt directive on tuition

Private and government-aided schools are likely to defy the directive by Education Minister Janet Museveni not to increase fees.  

Head teachers of private schools interviewed for this story say they cannot withdraw the new fees structures, citing debts and inflation that has hit the economy.  

“The only challenge, if I’m to speak on behalf of the private sector, is that we are heavily indebted.  The banks and other service providers are on our necks. Secondly, currently, inflation has struck the economy and even fuel prices [have escalated] – a litre of petrol is about Shs5,000. So amid this situation, prices [of other commodities] are high, services are expensive, our hands are tied,” Ms Zaujja Ndifuna, the national vice chairperson of Uganda National Association of Private Schools and Institutions (UNAPSI), who doubles as head teacher of Mbogo High School in Kampala, says.  

“And the government and the [Education] ministry are thinking it is just about hiking school fees. But a kilogramme of beans that we used to buy at Shs1,800 is now selling at Shs2,600. To expect the same amount of school fees to work isn’t possible. Some schools rely on generators for power.  A generator is run on diesel or petrol so the cost of the delivering quality services has become quite expensive but they [ministry] are not factoring in that,” she adds.

Mr Abdallah Kakande, the head teacher of Mpigi Light College in Mpigi District, says Ms Museveni’s directive failed to factor in the fact that the first term has been expanded by the ministry to cover the time school goers have lost. Expansion of the term, Mr Kakande says, means schools are going to incur more costs. 

“The duration of the term has been increased yet prices of almost all items have been increased. Fuel prices are up. When fuel prices increase, there is an automatic increase in the rest of the items,” Mr Kakande says. 

“But the [school fees] increment shouldn’t be exorbitant because parents have not been working for the last two years. Parents should be sympathised with. If they can pay in installments, that should be fine.”           

Ms Museveni, who is also the First Lady, in a televised address on Thursday night, said she had heard an outcry on the issue of unregulated school charges by both private and public schools.  

On the issue of hiking school fees, she said it is the reason why in 2017, she instituted a committee headed by Gulu University Vice Chancellor, Prof Frederick Kayanja, to come up with recommendations that will enable her ministry to know how to guide schools in respect to school fees and other charges.   

“This well-researched work has informed the ministry on the issue of school fees. So, when it came up this time, we realised that it is not about Covid-19. It comes up again and again but perhaps now Covid-19 has made it worse.”
She referred to a speech she made on December 15, last year during the closure of the Education and Sports Sector Review Workshop in which she warned that her ministry was “against arbitrary increment of fees.” 

“Although non [Universal Primary Education] UPE and non- [Universal Secondary Education] USE-implementing schools need to charge school fees to enable the running of the schools, the Ministry of Education is against arbitrary increment of fees charges,” she said.

She added that the ministry’s guidance was that parents should not be forced to pay higher than what they were paying before schools’ closure.

The minister said learners of Senior Two, who had fully paid fees last year before the schools were hastily closed due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, should not pay first term fees when they report to their schools on Monday.  

“As a follow up to my communication, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports issued detailed guidelines on reopening of educational institutions,” she said.

Ms Museveni said Senior Two learners, who hadn’t completed paying their school fees when schools closed on June 7, 2021, should complete paying the remaining balance when they report for their Senior Three on Monday.  

Are parents involved?
Before coming up with a new school fees structure, the minister ordered schools to first engage parents. 
“Education institutions shall engage parents and guardians to adopt flexible fees payment and allow payment in appropriate instalments because everybody understands the problems people are having. It’s true the schools have a need for money but also, schools should understand that parents have issues with money because many of them have not been earning the income they used to earn,” she said.

To emphasise the ministry’s position, Dr Joyce Moriku, the State Minister in-charge of Primary Education, on Friday tweeted: “All private schools and most especially the government non-USE schools that have hiked school fees should withdraw the circulars they sent to parents and send the right circulars indicating the right amount of fees, other than that, we are coming for you.”

As the year was winding down, it became apparent that parents would have to dig deeper into their Covid-hit pockets to pay fees for their children after most schools countrywide increased charges.   

Background 

Traditional schools led the way in increasing their fees for new entrants in both Senior One and Senior Five, citing the high cost of living and Covid-induced debts. For instance, a circular issued by the management of Kings College, Budo, on December 24, indicated a top-up of between Shs844,000 and Shs988,000 to be paid by each continuing student, “so as to enable the school clear outstanding debts”.

The school explained that their coffers were exhausted while erecting both the perimeter fence and the head teacher’s house during the lockdown.

“…the biggest challenge has been the paying and servicing of the loan we acquired for the two projects. The school tried its level best to pay until almost all the savings had been depleted. The loan was halted on 30/09/2021, but it has since been accumulating interest.

“Therefore, for the school to run smoothly, the board of governors resolved that a top up on school fees is paid to salvage the situation,” the circular reads.

Other schools, including Kawempe Muslim SS in Kampala, defended their new fees structure, saying it is not exorbitant as being portrayed by some parents.

“We are cognizant of the current economic situation in the country and maintained our fees at Shs1.2m for new entrants. If there is an increment, it is in requirements such as sanitisers, which students cannot live without during the current situation,” Mr Buruhane Mugerwa, the head teacher, said in a recent interview with this publication.

A new student at St Mary’s College, Kisubi, is required to pay Shs2.8m, including all requirements. 

At Kennedy SS Kawuku on Entebbe Road, management has raised tuition from Shs800,000 to Shs900,000. Mr George Bamuleseyo, the school head teacher, said the increment will cater for the extra two weeks added in the term.

Students joining Senior One at one of the top boys’ schools in the area, have been asked to bring five kilogrammes of sugar, two bars of soap, and a myriad of other requirements on top of the Shs1.9m school fees.