When the president announced the full re-opening of schools, both parents and schools operators got excited, witht the former finally getting rid of the "burden" and the later expectant to start earnin again from school fees and other school charges.
However, as we got nearer to the re-opening, worry started piling on parents as schools began hiking fees, citing that the two years lockdown really left them pennyless and the only way to kick-start was to "add a little amount" to the usual fees. The issue got the attention of the government and came out with its usual "barking dogs" warning of closing all schools found guilty of hiking fees.
Earlier today, the State Minister for Primary Education Hon. Joyce Moriku Kaduchu and the the decision making body of the Ministry of Education met to lay strategies on how to strike a balance between the schools proprieters and the parents on the issue of school fees.
Before the meeting, the minister assured Ugandans that they (the Education Ministry) are ready for the schools resumption come Monday reminded parents to ensure their children return to schools while following the Covid-19 guidelines."I want to tell parents, the guardians and the people of Uganda that we are ready to open schools come Monday. This is the week for national clean up of schools and we expect all schools to be the same." said the minister.
The minister also hinted that the idea of on and off opening of schools should be and can be fought if all stake holders can play their roles well and schools continue operating even when the pandemic continues to grow. "We are appealing to the schools operators especially the private schools, all parents were greatly hit by the pandemic. So toady, the decision making body is meeting to discuss about the issue of schools and by the end of the meeting, we shall be able to come up with a clear communication and a clear roadmap on how we're going to help parents take back their children to schools without strining a lot." the minister added.
The government is however known for coming up with such promises and growing hope among Ugandans but later it's normally business as usual. With almost every "good school" about to reach a million shilings in terms of fees, will the government really interven of we're back to the usual promises?
