By Weswa Ronnie
MBALE
The State House Education Desk has warned school administrators against imposing illegal charges on learners enrolled under the Government’s Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) programmes, saying such practices undermine the objectives of free education and deny vulnerable children access to schooling.
Jimmy Nambiro, Head of the State House Education Desk and Private Secretary to President Yoweri Museveni on Education and Skilling, told our reporter today Thursday in an exclusive interview in Mbale town that the Government introduced UPE in 1997 and later expanded the programme through USE in 2007 to increase access to education for children from poor and vulnerable households.
He described universal free education as one of the flagship programmes of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Government and a key intervention aimed at ensuring that children from both rural and urban communities have access to education.
“Universal Free Education is a flagship programme for the NRM Government that directly addresses the needs of education for vulnerable poor Ugandans in both rural and urban areas,” Nambiro said.
He said the Government continues to allocate resources to the education sector through the Ministry of Education and Sports to support infrastructure development, human resources, teaching materials, facilitation, training and capacity building in UPE and USE schools.
Nambiro noted that Uganda’s education system is supported by legal frameworks, including the Government White Paper and the Education Act, 2008, which provide the basis for access to education.
According to Nambiro, the introduction of universal free education has significantly expanded access to schooling across the country.
He said the number of school-going children has increased from about 2.5 million before the introduction of universal free education to approximately 10 million currently accessing education.
He added that the programmes have contributed to improvements in literacy levels, which he put at approximately 85 percent.
The Government, he said, currently supports more than 12,551 primary schools and 1,615 secondary schools across the country.
Nambiro said the figures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to expanding access to education and ensuring that children from disadvantaged communities are not excluded because of poverty.
Illegal charges undermine free education
However, Nambiro expressed concern over what he described as illegal charges imposed by some school administrators, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and school boards.
He said such practices undermine the concept of universal free education by forcing poor parents to meet costs that are supposed to be covered by the Government.
Among the alleged irregularities, he cited illegal school and development charges, demands for examination registration fees, ghost learners on school enrolment lists, ghost teachers, and alleged misuse or lack of accountability for capitation grants provided to schools.
Nambiro particularly criticised schools that charge parents for Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) registration, saying the Government pays examination registration fees for candidates at Primary Seven, O-Level and A-Level.
“These are serious barriers to access to free Universal Education meant to benefit poor communities, and they are against the Education Act of 2008 and presidential directives issued from time to time not to send any child under the Universal Programme out of school,” he said.
He warned that illegal practices by some individuals risk damaging public confidence in the Government and creating the impression that presidential commitments on free education are not being honoured.
Nambiro said the State House Education Desk has stepped up monitoring of UPE and USE schools to ensure that children are not pushed out of school because of illegal charges.
He called on District Education Officers, school inspectors, Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), District Internal Security Officers (DISOs), Gombolola Internal Security Officers (GISOs), religious and cultural leaders, and political leaders from Local Council I to Parliament to help protect the programme.
Nambiro urged Ugandans to work with the State House Education Desk by reporting cases of illegal charges and other practices that prevent children from benefiting fully from UPE and USE.
He said continued cooperation between communities, education officials, security agencies, and political and cultural leaders would be critical to protecting access to education and preserving the objectives of the Government’s universal education programmes.
