Prime
Ban on fees in public schools sparks outcry
What you need to know:
Many public schools rely on teachers whose salaries are paid by parents to fill the staff gap.
Educationists yesterday expressed reservations over the government’s decision to ban all fees in public schools, pointing to a number of challenges that need urgent attention.
They, among others, asked the government to first address the current understaffing and financial challenges, which they said are already taking a toll on most public schools.
Mr Filbert Baguma, the general secretary of Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) told this publication in an interview that whereas he welcomes the decision, he advises the government to come up with a concrete plan to bridge the staffing and finance gaps.
His remarks came barely three days after the Prime Minister confirmed that the government had banned all fees in government schools to check the high school dropout rate in the country.
“There should be an alternative to what parents have been contributing. If parents stop paying teachers who are not on government payroll, for example, we should not expect any effective learning or teaching to be conducted by the already suffocated staff,’’ Mr Baguma said yesterday.
Mr Baguma noted that the majority of public schools rely on teachers whose salaries are paid by parents and it would be a huge mistake to withdraw their services.
“Everybody would like to see children enrolled and retained, but the biggest question is what are they putting in place for schools to survive? Without an alternative, banning fees will not be implementable. Right now, the deployment level in government education institutions is poor and as long as they don’t increase funding and staffing, the situation is going to worsen,’’ Mr Baguma said.
Mr Martin Obore Okiria, the former chairperson of the Uganda Secondary School Head Teachers’ Association, backed the government decision, but said eliminating all fees would be disastrous since the capitation grant is inadequate and sometimes comes in installments.
“Some schools overcharge learners, but on the other hand, they have to pay teachers as well as meet operational costs. Besides, the capitation grant of Shs55,000 per O-Level student per term and that of Shs81,000 per A-Level student per learner is inadequate,’’ he said.
Mr Obore, who is also the former head teacher of Soroti Secondary School, said before he retired last year, his school had a population of 109 teachers of which 30 were being paid by parents.
He added that the new curriculum for lower secondary schools is so demanding and it would require parents to contribute towards their children’s projects.
Legal action
He urged law enforcers to take legal action against parents who have refused to send their children to school.
Another head teacher of a UPE schools in eastern Uganda, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they have five teachers and have no option but to engage community teachers to bridge the gap.
She added that since hunger had greatly contributed to school dropouts, they had asked parents to contribute beans, maize and money for grinding the maize and paying the cooks so that children are retained at school.
“We have less manpower. You find a school of seven classes having five teachers, a head teacher inclusive. We have to hire community teachers, a guard, cooks and the money that we use to pay them comes from parents,” she said.
