Uganda’s Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) programs were founded on a simple, powerful promise: that every child, regardless of wealth or background, would have access to free education. It was a national commitment to equality, a declaration that the future of this country would not be determined by the size of a parent’s wallet.
Yet today, that promise is being quietly eroded by a widespread and deeply entrenched practice. Public schools that receive full government funding continue to charge illegal, exorbitant fees. This betrayal has persisted despite repeated warnings from President Yoweri Museveni, who has consistently insisted that “UPE and USE are free.
No child should be sent away for failure to pay money that government has already provided.” His words have been clear, firm, and unambiguous. But across the country, the practice continues, almost defiantly, as though presidential directives were mere suggestions rather than national policy.
The injustice is stark. Parents who already pay taxes that fund UPE and USE are being forced to pay again through unauthorized fees. It is a form of double taxation that punishes the very citizens the policy was designed to uplift.
During his ongoing nationwide inspection tour, Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara has exposed shocking examples of this rot. In one USE school, students were being charged between UGX 150,000 and UGX 300,000 per term despite the school receiving government grants meant to eliminate such costs.
In another district, a headteacher demanded UGX 200,000 for “school development,” yet the school had no new buildings, no desks, and no improvements to show. Balaam found schools charging UGX 50,000 for “security,” even though operational funds already cover such expenses. These revelations are not anomalies; they are symptoms of a system that has normalized exploitation.
The consequences for learners are devastating. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, over 30% of secondary school dropouts are linked to financial constraints, even in USE schools that are supposed to be free. Children are routinely humiliated, chased from class, or forced to stand outside school gates because they cannot pay money that should never have been charged.
Girls suffer the most. When families must choose who stays in school, boys are often prioritized, leaving girls vulnerable to early marriage, exploitation, and lifelong economic disadvantage. The emotional toll on learner’s fear, shame, and uncertainty, cannot be overstated. A child who is sent home for failing to pay illegal fees is not just missing a lesson; they are being told that their poverty disqualifies them from the future.
The impact on government is equally severe. Illegal fees sabotage national policy, distort planning, and undermine the credibility of UPE and USE. The government invests billions annually in these programs, yet the intended beneficiaries remain locked out. President Museveni has repeatedly condemned this sabotage, calling headteachers who impose fees “enemies of progress.”
But enforcement has been weak. District inspectors often fail to report illegal fees, sometimes out of negligence and sometimes out of complicity. Some local leaders have protected headteachers instead of holding them accountable. This collusion forms a chain of corruption that must be broken if Uganda is to reclaim the integrity of its education system.
The broader national impact is profound. Education is the engine of development, and when access is restricted, the entire country suffers. Illegal fees widen inequality, entrench poverty, and weaken the human capital Uganda needs to compete globally.
A nation cannot prosper when its children are priced out of classrooms. Every child denied an education today becomes an adult denied opportunity tomorrow. The cost of this injustice will echo for generations, shaping the country’s economic trajectory and social stability.
It is important to call this practice what it truly is: corruption. Corruption is not only about stealing money from government coffers; it is also about abusing power for personal gain, exploiting citizens, and violating public trust. Illegal school fees meet all these criteria.
Headteachers who impose unauthorized charges are diverting public resources, exploiting vulnerable families, undermining national policy, violating presidential directives, and creating parallel financial systems outside government oversight. This is corruption in broad daylight, and it must be confronted with the seriousness it deserves.
The government must act decisively. Enforcement of presidential directives must be uncompromising. Headteachers who defy the law should face immediate disciplinary action—not transfers, not warnings, but real consequences. Inspection and oversight mechanisms must be strengthened, and district inspectors who fail to report illegal fees should be investigated.
School financial records should be publicly displayed, including capitation grant amounts and approved expenditures, because transparency is one of the most effective weapons against corruption. Parents must be empowered to report illegal fees through toll-free lines and digital platforms, and their complaints must be taken seriously.
Where schools genuinely lack resources, the government should increase capitation grants and ensure timely disbursement, but increased funding must be paired with strict accountability. Most importantly, perpetrators must be prosecuted. Charging illegal fees is theft, and those who engage in it, and those who protect them, should face the full force of the law.
To the school administrators who continue this practice, a reminder is necessary: the children you chase from school gates are the future of this nation. Their parents already pay taxes to fund your school. Charging them again is unjust, exploitative, and illegal. You are not only violating policy; you are stealing opportunity from Uganda’s next generation. You are mortgaging the future of the country for personal gain. This must stop, and it must stop now.
The writer is the Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Nakawa Division.
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