Government takes over fees collection in public schools

ACCOUNTABILITY

School managers have failed to account for the money collected termly in fees and requirements. Govt will now collect fees starting July 1.

For decades, some leading traditional schools, including Kings College Budo, Gayaza High School, Busoga College Mwiri and Ntare School, among others, have enjoyed the freedom to levy fees. 

The fees differ from one school to another, but some charge far more compared to privately owned schools, which do not benefit from government subvention. 

Despite collecting fees and receiving government subsidies, the Government says these schools are heavily indebted, which is threatening their existence. 

Some headteachers of public schools have had to sell school property, such as land, to offset loans. In addition, school managers have failed to account for the billions of shillings collected every term in fees and requirements. 

A public school in Wakiso not so long ago reported a surplus in excess of sh500m yet they are not supposed to be profit-making. 

However, with effect from July 1, this year, all school fees, including requirement charges in all public schools, will be paid to the consolidated fund through Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). 

The consolidated fund is a government account managed by Bank of Uganda, onto which all government revenues are deposited and from which money is withdrawn to fund government activities. 

This implies that school fees collected by public schools will officially become non-tax revenue. 

The move to revise the management of school fees in public schools is entailed in the National Development Plan (NDP) IV, whose implementation starts next financial year (2025/2026). 

“Fees charged in public schools should go through the consolidated fund,” noted the NDP IV document approved by Cabinet in March last year. 

The changes in school fees management form part of the key reforms the Government wants to adopt to fully implement the human capital development programme and realise the intended goals in the next five years. 

The NDP IV was based on the challenges highlighted in the NDP III mid-term review assessment, the Uganda Vision 2040 and the Government strategy to grow the economy ten-fold in the next 15 years. There were also inputs by experts and programme working groups locally, regionally and globally.

Who is affected? 

This provision affects both primary and secondary nonUniversal Primary (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE schools that receive government funding. 

According to education ministry data, there are about 12,595 government-owned primary schools and 1,444 secondary schools spread across the country. 

Of all these, about 200 schools are not under UPE or USE, that charge fees approved by the ministry. This charge, on average, is sh1m per term in fees. It is these whose fees should be paid through URA. 

This is because the Government policy does not allow schools under universal education programme to charge fees or requirements. Some of the government-aided schools with approved structures include Nabisunsa Girls, Kings College Budo and Ntare School in Mbarara, which charge sh3m, sh2.5m and sh2.3m in fees, respectively. 

On average, these schools have an enrolment of about 2,000 learners each.

How much is collected 

At an estimated enrolment of 2,000, the 200 schools will have a combined student population of 400,000. At an average of sh1m per student per term, the schools are collecting a minimum of sh400b per term and up to sh1.2 trillion per year in fees. 

Some of the public schools charging substantial fees include Mengo Senior School, Gombe Secondary School, Kibuli Secondary School, Kawempe Muslim Secondary School, Makerere College School, Kitante Hill School and Teso College Aloet. 

Other secondary schools include: Tororo Girls School, Nabisunsa Girls Secondary School, Nyakasura School, St Mary’s College Kisubi and Maryhill High School. 

At the primary level some of the schools affected by the reform include Namilyango Boys Junior School in Mukono, St. Savio Junior School Kisubi, Gayaza Junior School, Budo Junior School, Iganga Boys Boarding Primary School and Mwiri Primary School in Jinja.

Openjuru

Changes explained 

Sources who participated in the formulation of the NDP IV document explained that public schools have abused school fees and its requirements. 

Despite getting some subsidies from the Government, these schools have continued to levy premium charges, way above most private schools. An official, who preferred anonymity, explained that sending school fees to the consolidated fund is part of the new ways of government resource mobilisation. 

“Public schools receive support from the Government. We are paying teachers’ salaries, stocking libraries and laboratories and other necessities. 

However, we have noted that these schools go ahead to charge fees expensively and they cannot account for this money,” the source said.

How it will be done 

The Government reform on fees is not new in the country. It was first introduced in the country three years ago, targeting higher institutions of learning, including universities. 
Under the reform, parents of the affected primary and secondary schools will be required to pay the fees to URA, the body charged with collecting all revenues. 

The parents will be required to obtain a Payment Reference Number (PRN), which is generated by URA and it is used to pay the money through a bank or via mobile money. 
With the PRN, parents and schools will have a track of the fees remitted. Every year, schools will be required to submit their budgets, which will then be captured in the national budget. 

It is based on the budgets submitted by the schools that the Government will establish how much funds can be released to the schools every quarter for operations.

Expert comment 

Prof. George Ladaah Openjuru, the vice-chancellor of Gulu University, whose students pay fees through URA, lauded the system. He noted that it has relieved universities of the burden of hunting down students to pay fees. 

However, Openjuru said institutions that overstate their non-tax revenues, including fees collected, are usually queried. In addition, institutions that collect more funds than their budgets, do not get refunds. 

“Generally, it is a good system. It can be deployed anywhere,” he said. George Andama, a retired headteacher of Mvara Secondary School in Arua district, noted that such policies are usually intended to curb vices. However, Andama noted that the Government must engage headteachers to explain the motive for the reform and to understand how schools are managed. 

He also wondered how the Government will handle students, whose parents pay fees in instalments. 

“It is true many schools have accumulated bank loans. But will students face penalties in the form of surcharges for delaying clearing fees on time? It is a challenge in many schools,” he said. 

Schools react 

Ismail Kafeero, the headteacher of Ndorwa Secondary School in Kabale municipality, noted that the Government taking over collection of fees is a good idea. 

However, Kafeero said it will cripple schools, especially in procurement of consumables, such as laboratory reagents and food. 

“Schools buy food every day. We have perishables, whose money must be paid before they are supplied. If you are to wait for quarterly releases from the consolidated fund, you are likely to experience strikes from students over food,” he said. 

Kafeero noted that the fees collection reform will hurt big schools more, because of their huge menus, which parents pay for. 

“Unlike schools like ours that feed students on posho and beans, plus cabbages, those big schools have a different menu,” he said, adding that the Government should introduce a uniform fees structure and menu for this idea to work in schools. 

A headteacher of a public school in Kampala, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Allowing the Government to collect fees will hurt schools. We rely on fees to maintain structures and also build new facilities. We also use it to pay salaries for teachers who are not on government payroll, who are the majority.”