Butaleja LCV Moves to Regulate School Fees Amid Concerns Over Illegal Charges.
By Ambrose Wanagoli
The Butaleja District Chairperson, Elvis Were, has announced plans to regulate school fee charges across the district, calling on headteachers to agree on affordable contributions with parents while avoiding excessive and illegal fees.
Mr. Were said that although education requires support from parents, schools should exercise restraint when setting charges, considering the economic challenges faced by many families in the district.
“Teachers should not exaggerate the charges. Many of our parents are needy. Please agree on little fees that they can manage,” Were said.
He emphasized that education can only succeed when parents fulfill agreed obligations, including providing scholastic materials and meeting reasonable school requirements to support effective learning.
“I wonder how one can compete with others in urban areas who pay money for education, yet in rural areas people think education is entirely free, without even buying scholastic materials,” he added.
Were pledged to closely monitor schools and ensure that regulations are put in place to guide fee charges while safeguarding access to education for disadvantaged learners.
He also called for compulsory school feeding programmes, urging parents to dedicate part of their harvests to support learners’ nutrition and concentration in class.
Former Butaleja District Chairperson Sam Hibbinga Wyre welcomed the proposal but called for joint meetings involving School Management Committee chairpersons and Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) leaders to find a lasting solution to the issue.
The development follows recent remarks by Jimmy Nambiro, the State House Private Presidential Secretary in charge of Education and Skilling Programmes, who warned headteachers against imposing illegal school charges and threatened action against those who defy presidential directives
