By Isaac Nuwagaba
Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye on Tuesday called for an urgent review of Uganda’s ‘free’ education system to address declining standards, especially in government-aided schools in rural areas.
The Government introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) to provide access to education for all; it has been underfunded due to little budget allocations.
“Given that the government doesn’t provide enough funding to the schools, the education policy allows parents to make monetary contributions to schools which needs to be urgently addressed,” Mwijukye said.
While speaking at the Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda (FENU) workshop on education challenges in the country at Hotel OK in Kampala, Mwijukye said that despite President Yoweri Museveni tasking Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) to stop schools from charging any fees from parents, a lot needs to be done to address the impending crisis.
“This is a political gimmick to win cheap political capital, it creates confusion among the parents and they don’t know which direction to take. It also gives irresponsible parents a justification not to support the education of their children,” he revealed.
Last week, the parliament discussed a report from the education committee in regards to hiking of school fees in government schools but this debate is unfortunately a reflection of deeper challenges in the education sector, he added.
The same government which through the president stops parents from paying anything charges money for Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers (SESEMAT), Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda (ASSHU), Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) fees from students.
Currently, the government pays sh55,000 for every student in ordinary level (USE) per term and sh95000 for students in advanced level (UPOLET) per term while in UPE, government spends less than sh6000 for each pupil per term.
“Unfortunately, the same government officials who allocate this money to educate Ugandan children pay between sh2m to sh5m per term for their own children to study in private schools.”
“Surprisingly, those paying sh5m study the same curriculum as those who pay sh50,000 and they sit for the same UNEB exams,” he added.
Mwijukye highlighted that if these challenges are not addressed, it shall create classes of people in society which shall be disastrous for the nation.
“If it is continued, we risk having a class of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and a class of poor people that produces housemaids, bar attendants, and night watchmen.”
“Subsequently the doctor will marry a lawyer who will give birth to an engineer and on the other hand a night watchman will marry a maid to give birth to a shamba boy; that’s the class society that the National Resistance Movement government has created,” he regretted.
FENU executive director, Frederick Mwesigye expressed fear saying that hiking school fees by schools every term, including government schools is another form of injustice to the Ugandans.
“Turning education into a business and abandoning it to the private sector is another strategic blunder by the government. Creating an environment where one’s pocket determines which school he joins rather than one’s intellectual capacity is another sad reality in our country,” Mwesigwa said.
