By KT Reporter
Failure by parents to pay Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) fees is hindering the operations of public primary schools in rural communities of Gulu district.
President Yoweri Museveni has in the recent past directed Head Teachers of Universal Primary and Secondary Education schools to stop the practice of charging fees to learners. Museveni argues that the act sabotages the government’s plan of promoting human resource development needed for implementing the socio-economic transformation agenda in the country.
Authorities at public schools in the Gulu district however say that the UPE grants sent to schools by the government are inadequate forcing them to supplement by collecting PTA fees from parents.
At Paibona Primary School in Paibona Sub County, Gulu district, the head teacher, Joyce Brenda Lamunu says the school charges 45,000 shillings per term as PTA but that less than 100 pupils out of the 648 pupils enrolled at the school had paid as of November 22, 2024.
The funds are used to supplement the UPE funds the school receives from the Government.
PTA fees which are agreed upon by parents and the school authorities, are used to pay teachers and other staff who are not on government payroll, print exams and support the school feeding program.
Lamunu said that the school received 2.7 million shillings as UPE grants for the third term.
The funds have a spending guideline with 35 percent meant for scholastic materials, 20 percent for co-curricular activities, 15 percent for management, 20 percent for contingency and 10 percent for administration.
At Poko Ogali Primary School in Owalo Sub County, the head teacher, Florence Janet Adong says, the payment of PTA was equally poor.
Poko Ogali Primary School charges 23,000 shillings for pupils in primary one to primary three per term and 25,000 shillings for pupils in primary four to primary seven per term.
Adong, says in primary one alone, only 20 out of over 90 pupils had paid the school fees of 23,000 shillings as of November 22, 2024.
Adong says the majority of parents at the school struggle to pay the fees for the over 700 pupils enrolled there.
She is however hopeful that school fee payment will improve now that some parents have taken up fruit farming with support from African Women Rising, a non-governmental organization operating in the Acholi Sub-region.
“Those who planted pawpaw and passion fruits are now selling the fruits and are paying school fees. Last week, a parent brought a big basket full of paw-paws to sell at school. Teachers, pupils and the neighbouring community bought them and he was able to clear school fees for his child,” says Adong.
Catherin Atto, a parent at Poko Ogali Primary School says papaws and passion fruits she planted in 2023 have been helpful in paying school fees for her two children.
“Paying PTA is not a challenge anymore for me. I sell my papaws and passion fruits to get money for school fees. I am hoping to earn more when avocado and jackfruits start fruiting as well,” says Atto who was supported with fruit trees from African Women Rising.
Proscovia Ruth Anena, the National Program Director for African Women Rising says the organization distributed fruit seedlings to over 1, 500 parents in Gulu and Omoro in 2023.
The fruit seedlings comprising pawpaw, avocado, Passion fruits, soursop, jackfruit, bananas and guava are expected to be sold by the parents and the proceeds are used to pay school fees for their children.
“Some girls don’t complete school because parents lack money to pay school fees while some parents have very many children and therefore cannot pay school fees for some of them, especially girls,” said Anena.
Anena explains that through their Girls’ Education Program, fruit seedlings are given to parents to plant, and the children are tasked with taking care of the trees to ensure they survive and earn money to pay school fees.
The organization distributed 18,844 fruit trees in 2022 while 36,940 fruit trees were given out to parents in 2023.
Anena said passion fruits mature fast and can therefore provide short-term relief for parents struggling to pay school fees while with fruit trees like avocado, parents can harvest the fruits for very many years.
Jackline Akello, the Gulu District Education Officer acknowledges the difficulty parents in rural communities face in supporting their children’s education.
“Much as they have tried their best to support schools, you realize that at some point they are not able. This is because of the level of poverty the parents are in.
They have been relying on the crops they grow to support their children but then there are instances when we have seen the crops are not doing well because of the change in weather,” Akello says.
The District Education Officer says they have been using community dialogue to sensitize parents to embrace enterprises specifically to support their children’s education and not rely only on crop farming.
Janet Kataha Museveni, the Minister for Education and Sports while releasing Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results directed for a compulsory implementation of free Universal Primary and Secondary Education as an option for people who cannot afford the fees and charges in private schools-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
