As the new academic term begins in Kapelebyong district, 463 students were unable to receive their report cards due to unpaid Parents Teacher Association (PTA) fees.
The PTA at Akoromit Primary School took action because parents hadn’t paid the required sh10,000 per term for PTA fees.
Students affected by the unpaid fees cannot attend school until the fees are paid in full.
According to Lazarus Edoku, the PTA chairman, the fee is necessary to support a teacher not on the government payroll and for school development.
Edoku stated that children who hadn’t paid the fees were sent home, while those who paid partially were allowed in after their parents cleared the remaining balance.
Charles Okorio, the school head teacher, explained that the decision to charge the fee was made collectively by parents and communicated to the district.
Despite having an enrollment of 1,015 students, only 552 had paid the fees, and on the first day of the new term, only 100 students showed up, mostly new enrollees.
The funds collected were designated for projects like constructing facilities for girls’ menstrual hygiene and maintaining the borehole.
President Yoweri Museveni criticized schools charging fees, emphasizing the government’s commitment to free education through programs like UPE and USE.
Museveni expressed frustration with schools disregarding the government’s directives to eliminate fees and threatened to introduce legislation to prohibit fees in public schools.
