The Ministry of Education and Sports has reiterated its support for Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara’s crackdown on head teachers accused of charging illegal fees in schools implementing the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) programmes.
The matter came up during the Kigezi Sub-region Local Government Budget Consultation Engagement organised by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Kabale District.
The Assistant Commissioner in charge of Secondary Education, Alfred Kyaka, said Barugahara had not broken any law by directing the arrest of head teachers accused of collecting fees from learners enrolled under UPE and USE.
Kyaka cited Section 10 of the Education Act, 2008 (Cap. 247), which prohibits any person from levying or ordering the payment of charges for education in a school implementing UPE or Universal Post-O-Level Education and Training (UPPET/USE).
He said the law only allows schools to collect money under emergency circumstances, and even then, such contributions must be voluntary and not imposed as mandatory fees.
He added that the law provides safeguards to ensure that schools do not use emergencies as a loophole to impose charges on parents.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have been breaking the law. Hon Balaam is acting the way he does only to bring us back in line with the law, which is very clear: charging fees in UPE and USE schools is illegal,” Kyaka said.
CUE IN ALFRED…ON SCHOOL FEES…ENG//
Kyaka was responding to Kanungu District Council Speaker Frank Byaruhanga, who questioned why Barugahara subjects head teachers to lengthy public interrogations before arresting some of them over school fees.
Byaruhanga said the fees were usually agreed upon by school management committees and parents to bridge funding gaps caused by inadequate government financing.
CUE IN BYARUHANGA…ON SCHOOL FEES…ENG//
His concerns were echoed by Kabale Municipality Principal Education Officer Grace Munyambabazi, who gave a breakdown of the capitation grant allocated to schools.
Munyambabazi said the Shs20,000 allocated annually for each primary school pupil translates into about Shs6,666 per term, which she said amounts to only Shs74.89 per child per day.
He proposed increasing the daily capitation allocation to at least Shs1,500 per primary school pupil.
CUE IN MUNYAMBABAZI…ON CAPITATION GRANT…ENG//
Rubanda District Planner Wilberforce Korugyendo proposed that if the government is unable to increase funding for UPE and USE, particularly the capitation grant, the Education Act should be amended to allow parents to make contributions.
CUE IN KORUGYENDO…ON CAPITATION GRANT…ENG//
Meanwhile, Kanungu Deputy Resident District Commissioner Gad Rugaju questioned why Barugahara’s anti-corruption campaign was largely targeting local governments, where he said the amounts involved were smaller than those at the central government level.
In response, the session chairperson, Kabakumba Masiko, the Director of Wealth Creation and Social Action Funds, who represented the Finance Minister, said Barugahara was operating within local government structures because that falls under his ministerial portfolio.
She advised local leaders to forward corruption complaints involving central government projects to the Inspectorate of Government, which has a broader mandate in fighting corruption.
In his statement read by Masiko, Finance Minister Henry Musasizi challenged local government leaders and technocrats to align their plans and policy implementation programmes with the government’s tenfold economic growth strategy, which targets increasing Uganda’s gross domestic product to $500 billion by 2040.
Minister Musasizi also urged local leaders to encourage communities to embrace government wealth-creation initiatives, particularly the Parish Development Model (PDM), as part of efforts to increase household incomes and accelerate economic growth.
