Govt has legal duty to regulate school fees

We know Ministry of Education  officials own private schools in direct conflict of interest and failure to reign in fees

COMMENT | MICHAEL ABONEKA | Education is a right. Everyone has a right to Education according to Article 30 of our Constitution. The government of Uganda has an obligation under Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), Article 12 of the African Charter on the Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), Article 11 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and Article 30 of the Constitution, Sections 3 and 57, of the Education Act to ensure every Ugandan accesses free basic education and that education at other levels is accessible for all.

Education is not a commodity to be left to best seller and willing buyer, it is a right and the Uganda government bears the sole responsibility to provide it! This also means that Uganda can be held responsible for failure to provide the right to education under the above international and regional legal regimes.

We have had continuous cries way before COVID-19 for the government to regulate school fees and other unnecessary dues that are burdensome on parents and children but all in vain. According to the Uganda National Household Survey 2019-2020, 16% of the children did not attend school because it was considered too expensive, and persons aged between 6-24 years, 43% boys and 41% girls have never attended school because of lack of funding and schools not being affordable. This means that Government is failing in its duty to ensure that children are keep in school by regulating school fees.

The Parliament of Uganda has on several occasions tasked the Ministry of Education to intervene but all in vain. It seems that the Ministry of Education has failed in its duty to regulate school fees and other dues. We also know that some ministry officials own private schools and this is a direct conflict of interest which perhaps points to their failure to reign in on schools.

As a country, we cannot continue to watch as our generation gets wasted simply because they cannot afford school. We all owe a duty to our posterity; therefore, it is in the interest of every Ugandan to demand that the Ministry reigns in and takes charge of the situation.

It is over three years now and the Government is still promising to regulate school fees, other dues and unnecessary so called school requirements. How can the Ministry, in this era allow schools to demand that students must bring rugs, paint, cement, brooms, toilet paper, and rakes among others as school requirements and at the same time pay functional fees on top of school fees? The Ministry of Education seems to be sleeping on its job! We need to see action being taken beyond issuing guidelines that have no legal effect on the schools.

As a country, we must ensure that our citizenry gets the best education it can so that we are able to support all sectors of production. The Ministry of Education in any country is supposed to be the most vibrant and action-oriented because education is the nervous system of the country. For how long shall we beg the government to rein in schools that are charging exorbitant school fees and demanding outrageous school requirements? For how long shall we beg the government to provide favorable learning environments for learners and also prioritize the welfare of the teachers?

I hope that the Government takes this seriously as the education of its citizens as it is its primary responsibility to ensure that everyone accesses education.

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Michael Aboneka is Partner: Thomas & Michael Advocates