Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze has grilled the headmistress of Kawempe Muslim Secondary School, Zulaika Kibirige over the high fees charged to students.
Nambooze, who chairs the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Local Government, led members of the committee on an impromptu visit to the school to follow up on issues raised in the Auditor General’s report.
As soon as the committee began examining the school’s finances, Nambooze turned her attention to the fee structure and asked Kibirige to explain why parents were paying so much for their children’s education.
The school has about 2,377 students. According to figures presented to the committee, boarding students pay about Shs2.15 million per term, while day scholars pay about Shs1.4 million.
Nambooze questioned the high charges, particularly because the school is government-aided and has a day section.
“Provide us with the fees structure to know how you arrive at this particular figure,” Nambooze told the school management.
When the committee examined the fees structure, the MPs found several separate charges that they said needed further explanation.
Students were required to pay boarding fees and a separate security charge. Other charges included sanitation, insurance, disaster preparedness, and medical and health-related fees.
Nambooze questioned the headmistress over what she described as possible duplication of charges.
“Why would a student, after paying boarding fees, be required to pay security separately? I thought security forms part of the boarding fee,” Nambooze asked.
She also questioned the purpose of charging students for both insurance and disaster preparedness.
“Why would a student pay for insurance and then disaster preparedness? If a disaster does not happen, do you make a refund?” she asked.
The headmistress, who appeared unable to immediately provide detailed explanations for some of the charges, referred several questions to the school bursar, Kigenyi Muhammad.
Kigenyi told the committee that the school has financial needs that are not fully met by the government.
“The government does not provide us with everything. They only pay teachers because we are not a traditional school. We have to improvise,” he said.
Kibirige defended the charges, saying the payments were meant to support students and meet the needs of a school that offers both secular and religious education. [WATCH VIDEO]
“These are all important fees to pay, and they are all for the betterment of the learners, especially because the school runs a dual curriculum of a secular and religious nature,” she said.
But Nambooze was not satisfied with the explanation and said the committee had identified charges that could be removed or reviewed to reduce the financial burden on parents.
She argued that the removal of what the committee considered unnecessary charges could substantially lower the amount paid by students.
“We have found unnecessary fees and, if they were eliminated, a normal boarding student at Kawempe Muslim would pay less than Shs1 million and a day scholar would pay less than Shs400,000,” Nambooze said.
She questioned why children should be required to pay such high fees to attend a government-aided school, warning that the charges could keep some children from accessing education at the institution.
“With these high fees, so many would-be students have been denied education at this school, yet the pioneers wanted many people to access this school,” Nambooze said.
The committee also raised concerns about the school’s staffing levels, particularly the number of additional non-teaching staff.
According to information presented to the MPs, the government pays 103 staff members, while the school has more than 100 additional staff. The committee said this was an issue because the Auditor General had previously advised the school to reduce the number of additional staff.
Nambooze linked the staffing costs to the fees being charged to students, arguing that the school should first examine its expenditure before placing additional financial demands on parents.
The committee said it would consider the explanations given by the school management alongside the Auditor General’s findings as it continues its scrutiny of the institution.
The visit has placed renewed attention on the fees charged by government-aided schools and the need for school management to clearly account for every charge imposed on parents and students.
