Kasese head teacher arrested for demanding fees in UPE school

A head teacher of a government-aided school has been arrested over demanding school fees from learners, authorities have said.

Railway Primary School head teacher Selevano Kiribyunza was taken in at Kasese Central Police Station on Friday evening.

Busongora County (in Kasese) deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Zepher Mubingwa said Kiribyunza’s arrest followed a tip-off from one of the parents.

Authorities say that the parent reported that the head teacher was charging each learner Shs70,000 for school fees in a UPE school where learning should be free, according to the government program implementors.

"I took immediate intervention. We discovered that the head teacher had segregated the learners based on whether they had paid the required fee or not. This kind of segregation and denial of services to Ugandans is unlawful and unacceptable,” Mubingwa remarked.

This incident marks the third arrest of a primary school head teacher in Kasese Municipality on similar allegations.

Last term, Basecamp Primary School head teacher Erisa Bwambale was also arrested by Kasese RDC Lt Joe Walusimbi. In the following week of the same term, the RDC also arrested Remegio Ikwera, the head teacher of Kasese Primary School.

The RDC justified the arrests by stating that the detainees were defying a presidential directive that prohibits government aided schools implementing UPE and USE programs from expelling students due to non-payment of fees, as agreed upon with the school management committees.

“This series of arrests serve as a reminder of the importance of adhering to educational policies and regulations, particularly regarding the provision of free education under UPE and USE programs,” he highlighted.

President Museveni has on several occasions used public addresses to caution school heads against charging fees in UPE and USE reasoning that it fails his bid to eliminate illiteracy through UPE and USE by.