Reconsider schools’ capitation grants cut

The move by the government to cut the capitation grants to Universal Primary Education (UPE), and Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools is not only disastrous but dangerous to the education sector that is recovering from the effects of Covid-19.

Such a move will cripple the already poor learning outcome in the affected schools and in the end, we shall have more dropouts.

This move to slash UPE capitation grants expected for the third term to only 50 percent gives schools the opportunity to charge poor parents all sorts of non-tuition fees.

In an already hard economy, exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19, capitation grant cuts will force many learners to drop out of school because of the increased non-tuition fees, which are unaffordable for many parents.

First, the existing capitation grant for UPE is insufficient to make a difference, and slashing it further will leave many learners behind,  especially those from poor backgrounds, contrary to what is envisaged in National Development Plan (NDP) III to attain SDG 4;  to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Cutting the grant will further affect the quality of learning given in the grant-aided schools because affected schools will not be able to afford instructional learning materials such as chalk and stationery.

Instructional materials are essential as they help teachers and learners avoid overemphasis on recitation and rote learning that can easily dominate a lesson.

These materials allow learners to have practical experiences which help them to develop skills and concepts and to work in a variety of ways. The inadequacy of these materials in these schools will affect the quality of education in regard to attaining learning outcomes.

For instance, the head teacher of Kimanya Islamic Primary School indicated that cutting the money given to his school from Shs2.5m to Shs900,000 in a period of inflated prices is setting up the school for failure.

Cutting the capitation grant to schools also contradicts Uganda’s obligation to provide quality education as envisaged under the Abidjan Principles which states that countries have an obligation to realise the right to education for all by providing free, inclusive, quality, and public education.

In 2018, it was recommended that for UPE schools to attain the desired quality of education, they should be allocated Shs63,546 for urban schools and Shs59,503 for rural schools per pupil per year up from the Shs10,000 that the government was initially providing.

Since then, the capitation was increased to Shs20,000 per pupil per year but this still remains below the threshold as recommended by NPA.

 It should also be noted that there is always a discrepancy between the planned or budgeted and actual allocation. For example, in the financial year 2019/2020, the Ministry of Education and Sports had planned to spend Shs18,000 per pupil per year but the actual allocation was Shs12,000.

On various occasions, the administrators of UPE and USE schools have attributed the charging of non-tuition fees to the insufficiency of the capitation grants.

The charging of non-tuition fees has undermined the intentions for starting UPE and USE programmes. 

In the recent Uganda National Household Survey by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, it was revealed that six of every 10 persons drop out of school due to the high cost of education.  This too should call for reconsideration of the decision to cut expenditure on primary and secondary education. The general public should also take interest in this matter.

In conclusion,  the government should revise its decision to cut the capitation grants to UPE and USE schools and be mindful that schools are still recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Brighten Abaho,

Policy and Research Associate at Centre for Policy Analysis