MPs on the Committee of Education and Sports have called for a punishment to be imposed on headteachers of government-aided schools increasing fees without permission from the ministry.
While interfacing with officials from the Ministry of Education, led by the Minister of State for Higher Education, Hon. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the legislators asked for tougher measures against said headteachers.
The Mps faulted the Ministry for negligence and failure to discipline the schools that are charging learners over 2 million per term.
Committee chairperson, Hon. John Twesigye questioned why the ministry is not taking disciplinary action against head teachers charging exorbitant fees at the expense of learners and parents.
“These are the people whom you recruit. The problem we are trying to address is a matter that affects all of us. We are all parents. St. Mary’s College Kisubi charged Shs2.5 million last term and they plan to increase this term,” he said.
Hon. Godfrey Macho (Ind. Busia Municipality) blamed the increment of school fees on the laxity of the ministry in inspecting schools and the failure to discipline errant headteachers. He also asked the ministry to provide a list of all government-aided schools with their respective fees-structures.
“The committee should invite head teachers to explain why they are increasing school fees. We have ministers but they do not have authority over teachers. Kawempe Muslim School is less than three kilometers from the MOE and it is one of the government-aided schools charging exorbitant school fees. Each student pays Shs2 million per term. Is the government aware of this?” - Macho.
In her response, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Ketty Lamaro, said that it is difficult to regulate school fees without the statutory instrument, which is currently being reviewed by the Solicitor General.
She also stated that some government-aided schools applying for fees increment claim they have pending matters that need to be handled.
“Some schools have told us that they increase fees because they have large acres of land which require maintenance. Others say they focus on science subjects that are expensive to teach. Some schools base an increase on sanitation, after shifting from using pit latrines to flush toilets,” Lamaro said.