The Ministry of Education and Sports has moved to tighten enforcement against schools conducting unauthorised holiday teaching, opening a public reporting channel after Parliament raised alarm over what MPs described as a widespread practice depriving children of designated breaks from classroom instruction.
The intervention came on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, after Nansana Municipality MP Zambaali Bulasiyo Mukasa told Parliament that some private and government-aided schools were turning official school holidays into unofficial extensions of the academic term.
What is commonly known as “holiday coaching”, he said, is eating into time intended for children to rest, reconnect with their families and participate in activities outside formal classroom instruction.
“Rt. Hon. Speaker, there is a rampant and unregulated practice of holiday teaching commonly referred to as holiday coaching in several private and public or government-aided schools,” Zambaali told MPs.
“Holiday breaks were structured by the Ministry of Education and Sports to allow our children to have a rest and family bond, but some schools have misused this.”
His complaint prompted Speaker Jacob Markson Oboth-Oboth to summon State Minister for Education and Sports Peter Ogwang to explain what the government was doing to enforce the official school calendar.
“First of all, the Ministry of Education and Sports condemns the acts of holiday teaching because we issued out a circular to all Chief Administrative Officers across the country and also issued a school calendar which confirms teaching hours, teaching time and holiday time,” Ogwang said.
The Minister then put an enforcement tool directly in the hands of parents and the wider public.
Anyone who encounters a school conducting the prohibited practice can report it through the Ministry’s toll-free hotline 0800 377 771, he said.
“I want to issue a hotline or helpline for any member of the public who finds any school anywhere in the country. You can call that number to tell them where the practice is taking place,” Ogwang said.
The Ministry says reports will be routed to the relevant authorities, including police where necessary, for intervention. The hotline is also listed on the Ministry of Education and Sports’ official website as its toll-free TELA line.
Ogwang urged school administrators to respect the calendar and allow children to spend the holiday away from formal classroom routines.
“It is time for the holidays for our children. Allow the learners to be at home and rest, bond with their parents and guardians in line with the calendar which we issued as the Ministry of Education and Sports,” he said.
In some communities, extra lessons are presented as voluntary academic support. In others, parents and learners have complained of pressure to attend, additional fees and the fear that children who stay home will fall behind classmates who attend holiday classes.
Article 34 of the Constitution recognises children’s rights, including the right to basic education and protection from social and economic exploitation. It also protects children from work that is hazardous or interferes with their education or development.
The Children Act goes further by making the welfare of the child a paramount consideration in matters concerning upbringing and requiring decision-makers to consider a child’s physical, emotional and educational needs.
Section 4 of the Children Act expressly recognises a child’s right to leisure that is not morally harmful and participation in sports and positive cultural and artistic activities.
Uganda is also bound by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, whose Article XII recognises children’s right to rest and leisure, play and age-appropriate recreational activities.
The Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act, 2008 provides the broader statutory framework governing education institutions in Uganda.
Zambaali called on the Ministry to issue a stronger directive, enforce the official calendar and sanction schools that continue conducting unauthorised holiday classes.
The Ministry has now effectively issued both a warning and a reporting mechanism. Ogwang’s decision to publish a toll-free reporting line effectively turns parents, guardians and communities into the Ministry’s first line of detection. “It is time for the holidays for our children,” he said-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
