Government plans to completely phase out school fees under the free education initiative after President Museveni’s move to allow the education ministry meet the needs of government-aided schools.
The president has been concerned about the ‘exorbitant charges’ he says have contributed to high school dropout rates.
The assistant commissioner in charge of secondary education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr. Moses Musingo says they discussed the matter with the president
He was speaking at the 10th annual national conference on economic, social, and cultural rights held at Makerere University under the theme “Human capital development: The cost of education in the era of the third National Development Plan”.
“The president asked why schools are still charging learners yet they are getting capitation grants. He said instead of telling him how much schools charge, we should tell him the budget figure so that he can find the money. We have given him the budget that Cabinet has passed. Beginning 2025, we can actually have the money to ensure that parents in primary schools are not charged. By 2027, we shall have the money to ensure that parents in USE schools are not charged because government will be able to cater for the costs that they have been paying for,” Musingo said.
Angela Kalule Nabwohe, the executive director at the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights has underscored the need to regulate current school charges.
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The National Planning Authority says there will be need to drastically increase capitation grants for all levels of education in order to ensure quality education
Currently, government provides Shs20,000 for each learner studying in government-aided primary schools annually and Shs255,000 per student in lower secondary schools.
The senior planner in charge of economic governance and management at the Authority, Mr. Samuel Kasule says the current capitation grant is too low to enable delivery of quality education
