The Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) has petitioned the Ministry of Education and Sports to uphold an earlier government position allowing faith-founded public schools to continue charging parents supplementary fees until the State can fully finance the cost of educating every learner.
In a July 27 letter addressed to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, the council argues that the additional charges are necessary because government capitation grants remain insufficient to meet several operational expenses in schools.
The letter, signed by Rev Canon Paul Kakooza, the director of education services at the Church of Uganda, Rev Fr Ronald Reagan Okello, the national executive secretary for education at the Uganda Episcopal Conference, and Mr Theodorous Lyazi, the education secretary of the Uganda Orthodox Church, cites resolutions reached during engagements between faith-based organisations and government.
The clerics refer to communications from the Attorney General conveying resolutions from meetings chaired by President Museveni and the Minister of Education on September 6 and December 19, 2024.
“…The foundation bodies would be allowed to charge fees in order to meet the unmet costs until the government is able to fully fund the education costs for all students,” part of the letter states.
The council has also urged diocesan education secretaries, parish priests and other church leaders to sensitise parents and communities about their shared responsibility in supporting their children’s education.
The petition comes amid growing tension following the recent arrests and interdiction of several head teachers and school administrators accused of collecting fees in government-aided schools despite the government’s Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) policies.
In Mbale Diocese, Church of Uganda leaders have directed head teachers to continue collecting what they describe as reasonable charges to meet operational costs not covered by government funding.
In a circular dated July 27, Diocesan Secretary Rev Canon Robert Wantsala acknowledged that although schools receive government grants, the funds do not adequately cater for expenses such as uniforms, school maintenance, support staff wages and emergency requirements.
He said consultations between the UJCC and State House had resolved that foundation bodies could continue charging minimal fees until the government fully finances education.
“The Uganda Joint Christian Council engagements with State House resolved that, for now, grants paid to schools being inadequate, foundation bodies may continue to charge parents minimal fees to meet operational expenses,” Rev Wantsala wrote.
He further authorised boards of governors and school management committees to continue levying reasonable charges in line with guidance contained in a September 5, 2024 communication from the Attorney General.
The directive follows a recent monitoring exercise by the Minister for Local Government, Mr Balaam Barugahara, during which several school administrators in Mbale and Bugisu areas were arrested over alleged illegal school charges.
Rev Wantsala said the arrests had created fear among school managers. “It has been noted with concern that following the Ministry of Local Government’s monitoring programme in our Diocese, many head teachers and stakeholders were arrested and interdicted largely because of collecting fees and other dues from learners,” he said.
For example, during the inspection on July 16, Mr Barugahara ordered the temporary closure of Namisindwa Secondary School over poor sanitation and allegations that it was charging each student Shs65,000 per term despite being a government-aided USE school.
The minister directed parents to stop paying what he described as illegal fees. Likewise, Rev Kakooza from the Church of Uganda, in a telephone interview last evening, told Monitor Publication that while the government provides capitation grants, they are not enough to meet the actual cost of delivering quality education, leaving schools to meet essential expenses such as staff remuneration, beyond government payroll, utilities, infrastructure maintenance, feeding programmes, chaplaincy, and counselling services.
He went on to explain that the Foundation bodies are not opposing government oversight but are calling for the implementation of the resolutions reached during the 2024 State House meeting, which recognised the existing funding gaps.
The Mbale Diocese has since maintained that parents should continue contributing towards education by paying foundation and operational fees.
Under its guidelines, primary school learners are required to pay Shs500 per term to the diocese and Shs200 to local churches, while secondary school students pay Shs1,000 to the diocese and Shs500 to lower churches.
Similar directives have since been issued by other Church of Uganda dioceses. In an August 6, 2025 letter, Namirembe Diocese instructed head teachers that learners should continue paying foundation fees, lunch fees and the cost of school uniforms, arguing that School Management Committees and Boards of Governors have the mandate to set charges for services not financed by government.