Govt bans building fees in all schools

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In a bid to make education in Uganda more affordable, the Government has stopped both private and public schools from levying a total of 12 fees.

Implementation of the new measures, which starts next term, will see school charges reduced by more than half.

A list of the banned fees seen by New Vision indicates that schools will no longer charge any form of fees for the acquisition of permanent or immovable property that remains assets of the school, its foundation body, or proprietors.

This includes contributions for the purchase of school buses or development fees for buildings. Schools are not allowed to levy charges for any form of examination or assessment fees that are not payable to unaccredited or unauthorised national or international examination or assessment bodies.

In addition, the cabinet directive bars schools from charging fees for remedial learning or coaching.

The schools are also barred from charging facilitation fees or fees for supplementing salaries or welfare of school employees, foundation body members, school board, School Management Committees (SMCs), Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) or any other.

Both public and private schools will no longer levy PTA fees, SMC fees or Board of Governors fees to run activities of the board.

Schools are also barred from charging admission fees, or any levy towards third parties, such as the foundation bodies or its affiliates, proprietors, as well as Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOS).

The cabinet also directed that parents should not contribute towards any associations belonging to school employees, parents or guardians, board members, SMC members and the like.

According to the Cabinet list, both public and private schools are barred from charging fees towards bursaries, scholarships or cash transfers to benefit learners, employees of the school, PTA, SMCs, board members, SMC members, and the like.

Parents will also no longer contribute towards repayment of loans acquired by either the school, foundation bodies or the proprietors.

Parents will not pay legal fees or dues incurred by school employees, management, governance, foundation bodies or proprietors.

 

Sources at the education ministry revealed that the 12 charges were disallowed in both public and private schools right from nursery up to secondary level.

Some schools had gone as far as asking parents for National Social Security Fund contributions for their teachers.

Phased implementation

According to the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Museveni, the implementation of the new Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) plan will commence in a phased manner, starting with UPE in the 2024/2025 financial year. She also confirmed that an additional sh309.16b is required on top of the sh1.3 trillion that the Government spent on UPE in the 2022/2023 financial year.

“As a ministry, we have received broad direction from Cabinet regarding the need to implement free and compulsory UPE and USE,” she said.

She said free universal education means that for items that the government is paying for, learners in UPE and USE beneficiary schools shall not be expected to be charged fees. However, she indicated that one area that the government shall not be paying for is the cost of boarding or accommodation, even if such a service is offered in a UPE or USE-implementing school.

“Cabinet also pronounced that all schools that receive public funds must implement free and compulsory universal education programmes as applicable,” she said.

The First Lady added: “As a ministry, we shall have to hold conversations with the current 105 public secondary schools, as well as the 109 public primary schools that are recipients of public funds, but have not been implementing USE and UPE.”

She defended the move to have free and compulsory universal education as a way to offer affordable options to Ugandans who cannot afford fees in private schools. 

First Lady on disallowable fees

While releasing the 2023 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results at State House Nakasero on Thursday last week, Mrs. Museveni, confirmed that the cabinet had prescribed a list of 12 items categorised as ‘not allowed’.

First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Museveni. (New Vision/File)

Mrs. Museveni said: “Cabinet also went ahead to prescribe a list of 12 items, which are categorised as not allowed to be charged as part of school fees in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools.”

“These (12 items) should be formally communicated to all schools by the Ministry of Education and Sports.”

At the same function, the First Lady revealed a new plan to implement free and compulsory Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE).

The plan will see all schools, including the government-aided ones, such as King’s College, Budo, Gayaza High School, Namagunga, Ntare, Mbarara High School, Busoga College Mwiri, Kiira College Butiki, Nabisunsa, Kibuli and Mengo, implement USE.

The plan will also see schools, like Namilyango Junior Boys Primary School in Mukono, Mwiri Primary School in Jinja, Iganga Boys’ Boarding Primary School in Iganga, Gayaza Junior and St. Savio Junior School Kisubi, implement UPE.

Since the start of UPE in 1997 and USE 10 years later, public schools have been receiving government funding, except capitation grants given to the universal education implementing schools.

What the sector says

Hasadu Kirabira, the National Chairperson of the National Private Education Institutions Association, said stakeholders agreed with the Government on some of the disallowable fees.

Hasadu Kirabira, National Private Educational Institutions Association chairperson addressing journalists. (File Photo)

However, he said, charges for assessment, examinations and seminars should be maintained because these exercises are expensive and schools cannot afford them.

“Last year, we met the Government and asked that there should not be a fee cap because private schools rely on it 100%,” he said.

According to Kirabira, they backed the scrapping of some of the charges because they are the responsibility of the school proprietors, not the parents.

“I want to advise our colleagues that we should not deviate from the purpose of our schools, which is to offer education and not make money,” he said.

Some of the headteachers of public schools were reluctant to be quoted on the subject of disallowed fees and universal education implementation.

One of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We are public servants, employed by government. Who are we to say no?”

Bro. Augustine Mugabo, the chairperson of the Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda, said: “I cannot comment on a policy before I read it”.