Proprietors of private schools intending to increase school fees will have to seek authorisation from the ministry of Education and Sports, its permanent secretary Alex Kakooza has said.
Speaking at the closure of the senior one selection exercise at Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) hall in Lugogo on Wednesday, Kakooza said private school owners ought to follow the same guidelines as government schools when seeking to increase fees.
“Whereas they [private schools] have contravened these fees guidelines in the past, we are going to enforce the regulations this time,” Kakooza said.
“It is true that the cost of living has risen but any increment, if it must be there at all, must be submitted to the ministry. And for it to be approved, it must be in the limits accepted by us and does not discourage parents from sending their children to schools.”
Kakooza added that while government appreciates the prevailing economic situation, which has led to an increase in food prices, schools are supposed to live within their means.
“Schools are not supposed to hike school dues inconsiderably and the practice of charging admission fees for government schools must stop,” he said.
According to Kakooza, there is no minimum and maximum fee tagged to private schools but if a proprietor deems it fit to raise their fees structure, they must justify the move and wait for the ministry to advise accordingly.
When asked if the fees regulations are to take effect this year, Kakooza told The Observer: “It is the duty of the ministry to regulate schools. We are the authority of education in this country and yes, we are going to regulate fees charged by private schools.”
Head teachers of Universal Secondary Education (USE) were also reminded to operate within the USE guidelines of not levying fees that are not approved by the ministry of education.
MIXED REACTION
Hasadu Kirabira, a researcher for the National Private Education Institutions Association, said the ministry of education would be overstepping its mandate.
“How does government come in to regulate fees it did not set for us?” Kirabira asked. “We know the pains we go through to run our schools and it will be very tiresome for all schools to write to government whenever they want to increase fees.”
Kirabira added that the ministry is only supposed to know how much schools charge and their expenditure but not giving them fees limitations. He said the ministry of education and KCCA require all schools to have school management committees and board of governors whose task it is, among others, to set school fees.
“This new suggestion will now render these bodies redundant. Many schools have already increased fees; are they going to ask them to reduce it?” he said.
Some private schools have already announced their fees, with St Julian High School Seeta charging Shs 850,000 for senior one (boarding) and Shs 500,000 for day students. For Namirembe Hillside, it’s Shs 800,000 to 900,000, while Light Academy SS (former Turkish Light Academy) is asking for Shs 2.25m, among others.
Benson Kule, the commissioner, secondary education, insisted that private schools must heed to the permanent secretary’s communication.
“When you license and register a school, it means you can also deregister it. Now that schools are aware of the policy, it is very important for them to comply.”
For government schools, Kule said, if the head teacher fails to advise the board as a technical person and it goes ahead to increase fees, he or she shall be disciplined accordingly.
SELECTION EXERCISE
The two-day selection exercise which started on Tuesday this week saw at least 445,576 students placed in government secondary schools and Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) institutions.
Another 1,096 private schools that did not take part in the selection exercise at Lugogo are expected to admit 65,760 students. The overall estimated intake in 2017 for senior one students is 511,336 in government and private schools, including BTVET institutions.
By March 23, 2017, head teachers will be tasked to report the total number of students they will have selected for their schools. Senior one students and those joining technical and community polytechnics will report for first term on February 13.
SUBJECTS SCRAPPED
Meanwhile, Kule reminded head teachers not to prepare students for at least 10 subjects that have been scrapped off the O-level curriculum. For instance, Kiswahili language has been retained on the curriculum but a section of Kiswahili known as Fasihi ya Kiswahili will no longer be examined.
Other subjects scrapped off the O-level curriculum are; Political Education, Additional Mathematics, General Science, Health Education, Electricity and Electronics, Power and Energy, Short hand, Type Writing and Office Practice.
On June 15, 2015, Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) wrote a circular to all schools informing them that they will not examine students on the affected subjects.
“This means that no student joining senior four this year [2017] should be taking those papers. This means those [head teachers] who did not read the circular properly must learn to read documents in order to be abreast with information,” Kule said.
Currently, the O-level curriculum has 48 subjects but only 42 are still being examined by Uneb as of last year. With effect from 2017, Uneb will now examine only 32 subjects.
In a State House meeting with vice chancellors of public universities and officials from the ministry of education in December last year, President Museveni emphasized the need to reduce the number of subjects taught at O-level from 48 to at most 14. This, he argued, will cut out repetition, duplication and overload of subjects on students.
In an interview with The Observer yesterday, Kule said some of the affected subjects are already being taught in other subjects.
“Students that want political education can find it in History, Electricity and Electronics is already taught under Physics. So, we are trying to avoid spending money on developing materials for two subjects yet it can be one,” he said. “This business of overlapping subjects must stop.”
Kule added that students that intend to specialise will do this when they enroll at universities, polytechnics and tertiary intuitions. For now, Kule said, the ministry of education is studying the O-level curriculum with a view of shelving even more subjects.
nangonzi@observer.ug