A proposal by Janet Museveni, the minister of Education and Sports to pack at least two eggs and a bottle of milk for school going children will set parents back by at least Shs 330,000 per child per year.
Janet suggested this to address the nutritional needs of children and to enhance their learning capabilities. She was officially closing the Buganda Mother’s Union’s annual four-day conference at Timnah International Schools in Luwero Diocese.
Her proposal means that if a parent packs half a litre of milk for 24 school days a month, they will spend Shs 115200 on that child in a year. The assumption is that half a litre of milk (or 500ml cup) costs Shs 600. The pasteurized milk sold in supermarkets would be doubly expensive.
On the other hand, two eggs costs Shs 1000. In an entire year, this will cost a parent Shs 216000 per child. In total on both eggs and milk will cost the parent Shs 331,200.
The figure goes up for a parent that has more than one child.
Yet in a country where most parents enroll their children in Universal Primary Education because it is free, it is very unlikely that they can afford those extra perks for the children. Many of these parents cannot even afford to pack a left-over meal for their children.
Some people have said Janet Museveni’s proposal shows how out of touch some leaders are from reality. Janet has faced alot of criticism on social media.
