During one of her roles, Monitoring and Evaluation exercise of programs and projects implemented by Government in the districts of South Western Uganda, Rt. Hon. Minister Justine Kasule Lumumba was surprised to hear that schools in Kamwenge district are charging children of refugees school fees.
Minister Lumumba a darling of young people and educationist professional, while interacting with pupils at Nteziryayo Primary Schools in Kamwenge district, the pupils raised pertinent issues affecting them and one was school fees, she was touched and astonished when the children informed her the School administration was charging them school fees. In a face to face interaction pupils in Nteziryayo Primary School informed the Minister that the School was charging them school fees including money for cleaning school compound which they can do yet their parents are poor and dont have any source of income, that even some children are at home not studying because of school fees.
The Minister who got angered by the touching stories of children tasked the Head teacher of Nteziryayo Primary School to explain why the school was charging school fees yet most of the children are refugees and the government with other organisations are supporting the school including; construction of classroom blocks, water tanks, paying teachers and other needs, In his response the Head teacher tried to raise an issue of inadequate number of teacher ratio, that the fees charged is supposed to cater for other non-government teachers who operate on a local contract, the Minister who became more furious, informed him that the government has the capacity to deploy enough teachers in the school so he should stop such excuse, she asked him whether he has ever raised the same issue of limited teachers to the district administration, which he failed to clarify. The Minister inquired from Kamwenge district leaders whether they knew about the issue of charging schools and limited teachers, In their response the LC.V District Chairperson of Kamwenge and Resident District Commissioner informed the Minister that they were not aware, and the act of charging school fees was illegal because the schools was supposed to inform the district their intention of charging school fees and then the Education committee and District council debates on it to analyse whether it’s viable or not before the school implements it. The Minister who was more angered by the illegal act of the school leadership, directed the Head teacher and his school administration to Stop Charging Refugee children school fees because their parents do not work and the support they get is to cater for home basic needs, Like other Ugandan children, these refugee children are not exceptional, since we accepted to host them in our communities, they automatically became our children, so we should treat them the same way like ours, they should receive free Education, Universal primary education (UPE) and enjoy other education basics and facilities like other children in Uganda, She said.
Nteziryayo Primary School is one of the Primary schools considered as refugee schools in refugee hosting communities in the villages of Kamwenge district, it has a population of 98% (ninety eight percent) refugee school children who lives in refugee camps and 2% Ugandan children in the neighbor community. The Minister was touring classroom blocks constructed by government and water tank stations at the School constructed by the Government of Uganda under DRDIP project managed in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Minister, As Kamwenge district leaders, we are going to discuss the matter and treat it with necessary consideration and take action as soon as possible, Kamwenge L.C.V district Chairperson said.
The Minister who managed to put a smiles on the lips of young children (pupils) with her dance moves, singing Uganda school anthem and giving them chance to express or say what they want to be in future, this eased the Children to freely tell her the challenges they were facing and their future ambition for her to present them to H.E President Museveni which included; more school classrooms, seats, scholastic materials, uniforms, school feeding, electricity, school clinic, more teachers. However, the refugee children were also able to note and inform the Minister about their experience in Uganda, that there is good security and peace in Uganda, which has helped them to enjoy education and other social basic needs, some informed her that when they grow up and finish to study, they want to be like President Museveni to provide Peace and security in their countries and to their brothers and sisters like the way President Museveni has provided peace and security in Uganda.
I have heard all your challenges and future desires, I have noted them, my team is going to write a report, and I will present all to the Cabinet, H.E President Museveni and the Minister of Education and Sports, to work on them, Minister Lumumba said.
She further encouraged the young children to maintain peace and unity when they grow up, love their brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors, provide for one another and above all they should ensure that they study and complete their education for them to have a better future to help their parents, siblings and other people in their Communities.
