Gulu Senior Secondary School in Gulu City has maintained mandatory payments by parents under the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), arguing that the contributions are critical to the school’s operations and development. The decision comes amid criticism from educationists and political leaders in the Acholi Sub-region following the government’s ban on compulsory PTA payments and extra charges in government-aided schools.
Enforcement of the policy started last month and has since seen hundreds of teaching and non-teaching staff whose salaries were funded through PTA contributions laid off from government-aided schools across the country. However, Peter Okello, the PTA Chairperson at Gulu Senior Secondary School, told Uganda Radio Network on Tuesday that the school had not laid off any employee recruited under the PTA arrangement.
Okello said the employees were filling critical staffing gaps that the government has been unable to address through the Universal Secondary Education (USE) grant. “The government is not playing its obligation… By Friday last week, the government had not released the USE grant; no single coin was in the school account. Schools that have ended up sticking to the wrong implementation of the new policy, the state of the children has been affected,” Okello said.
He argued that the new policy prevents parents from voluntarily contributing to the development of schools and the smooth learning of their children, yet government funding remains inadequate. According to Okello, the school operates on an annual budget of 3.2 billion shillings, while the government allocates only 385 million shillings annually for its operations, which he said is not released on time.
He noted that the school, with a population of about 3,000 students, should have 90 teachers on the government payroll. However, only 58 teachers are employed by the government, leaving a gap of 32 teachers who are employed and paid through PTA contributions. Okello also said the school requires 40 non-teaching staff, but only four are employed by the government, leaving 36 positions funded through PTA contributions.
Students in Ordinary Level (O’level) at Gulu Senior Secondary School pay 284,000 shillings per term, while those in Advanced Level (A’level) pay 276,000 shillings. In comparison, the government provides 58,000 shillings per O’level student and 90,000 shillings per A’level student per term under the USE programme. Okello called for a review of the government policy to allow PTA contributions, arguing that the current government funding is insufficient to meet the operational needs of schools.
Meanwhile, the government ban on mandatory payments from parents and extra school charges has already affected several schools in Gulu District. Agnes Oyela, the Headteacher of Lukodi Primary School in Bungatira Sub-county, told Uganda Radio Network that the school had laid off five employees whose salaries were funded through PTA contributions. Those laid off included a teacher who handled Primary Two Literacy One and Two and Mathematics, two cooks, a watchman and a matron.
Oyela said the school is struggling to fill the gap left by the teacher while also dealing with challenges related to security, the welfare of girls in the boarding section, and feeding of teachers. “Since there is no contribution, the teachers are going hungry. We cannot keep the cooks anymore because no one can pay them, so teachers are going as they are. On security, so many people pass by the school premises, and we are afraid they can steal school property,” Oyela said.
Oyela said Lukodi Primary School is now relying on the government capitation grant of only six million shillings, which she described as inadequate to run a school with 15 teachers and 837 pupils. At Lukome Secondary School, also in Bungatira Sub-county, the school management has laid off three academic staff, including an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teacher. The school authorities say they are now struggling to cope with the shortage of teachers as students prepare for the forthcoming Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations.
Last week, a section of political leaders in the Acholi Sub-region criticised the government’s decision to scrap PTA contributions, arguing that the policy was introduced at a time when government schools have inadequate numbers of substantive teachers. Alfred Akena, the Pader District Chairperson and Chairperson of LCV Chairpersons in the Acholi Sub-region, said leaders had resolved that the Ministry of Public Service should expedite the recruitment of heads of departments to facilitate recruitment clearances.
“After removing PTA, we don’t have teachers. Our children are walking in compounds. When we are bringing policies, we need to see that we cater for what should be done. Allow the recruitment of teachers alongside heads of departments if you want education to survive in this sub-region,” Akena said. Gen. (Rtd.) Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister for Public Service, however, urged local government leaders in the Acholi Sub-region not to view Local Government Minister Balaam Byarugahara’s decisions on the PTA ban in bad faith-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
