The proposal by the Government of Uganda to have the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) collect school fees in all public and private schools has drawn mixed reactions from educationists and other stakeholders in the education sector.
According to the draft policy developed by the Ministry of Education and Sports, the government’s Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE), will remain free of charge but any additional charges or fees approved by the ministry will be collected by URA. The government argues that this is intended to streamline the collection process and improve financial oversight.
Filbert Baguma, the General Secretary of the Uganda National Teachers’ Union, described the new policy as a non-starter.
He said it is contradictory for the government to claim that it offers free primary and secondary education and then suggest that URA will collect fees in some schools.
“What exactly will URA be collecting if there are no fees?” Baguma wondered.
The centralized fee collection was first introduced in universities in 2019 following issues of fee misuse and underreporting. The decision to manage fee collection through a single account held by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) was implemented to reduce such abuses and enhance financial oversight
But Baguma calls for a study review to determine how the policy is working in public universities before it can be introduced in primary and secondary schools.
Mr Geoffrey Birungi, the headteacher of Mbarara secondary school, said the government has in the past failed to release funds on time.
“We’ve seen local governments and universities using this system report delays in fund disbursement. Such delays can be problematic, especially if funds are needed urgently for essential teaching and learning resources. For instance, some funds collected by the PTA are used for teacher salaries, school feeding programs, and purchasing educational materials,” he said.
Joseph Ssembuusi, a parent, argues that with URA’s involvement, schools are likely to be affected as they wait for releases from the government which are many times delayed yet some demands need to be fulfilled.
However, the Assistant Commissioner of Public and Corporate Affairs at URA, Robert Kalumba, calls for calm, saying this is a mere policy proposal.
“This is still a proposal in the new education policy that hasn’t been passed yet and therefore is not law. Also, payment of fees will only be through the URA system as NTR (non-tax revenue). This process does not require one to have a TIN,” Kalumba said.
According to the National Planning Authority’s (NPA) paper, if the proposed centralized fee collection system is implemented, all public education and training institutions would be required to maintain a single official bank account.
The NPA’s suggestion, which emerged amidst growing public concern over rising school fees, also includes a proposal to restrict public education institutions from incurring debt without prior approval from the relevant authorities, as well as to curb unwanted increases in fees and charges.
