Why FDC wants Uganda's school calendar cut to two terms
The proposal is part of a wide-ranging critique of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government's handling of the education sector
Centenary Robert Franco, the FDC vice chairperson for western region said that there is a need for the introduction of two terms instead of three per year while addressing a press conference on Monday, September 14, 2026. (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has proposed reorganising Uganda's school year into two terms instead of three, saying the move would give children more time to rest while giving parents and guardians enough time to mobilise fees and other educational expenses.
The proposal is part of a wide-ranging critique of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government's handling of the education sector, which the party says has become a market commodity rather than a public responsibility, leaving parents facing stress and financial pressure every time schools reopen.
“While this would be ordinarily an obvious occasion for parents dropping off their children at school, the day comes with a lot of untold stress and suffering to the learners, their parents and the teachers,” Centenary Robert Franco, the FDC vice chairperson for the western region, said, addressing a press conference on Monday (September 14).
“What is stressful for parents is the exorbitant fees charged in both private and ‘good’ public schools,” Centenary added.
“We are all aware of the financial hardships that Ugandans are facing and schools just add to the already bad situation,” the party added.
Centenary's observation comes as schools across the country registered low turnout in the first week of third term, with many parents struggling to raise school fees.
Govt owns only 29% of schools
FDC questioned the government's repeated call for parents to take their children to Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools, asking where those schools are and how good they are.
“As we speak now, the government owns only 12,557 out of 43,567 primary schools in Uganda, that’s about 29%, and just 1,484 of 5,498 secondary schools, about 27%; the rest are privately owned. At university level, government funds only 9 out of the roughly 25 registered universities,” the statement reads.
The party recalled that in 2007, when President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was launching USE, he promised to have one primary school per parish, one secondary school per sub-county and one technical school per district.
“The questions therefore are: Can 29% of schools accommodate all primary school-going children? Can all secondary school children be accommodated in the just 1484 government secondary schools?” Centenary rhetorically asked.
The 'myth' of free education
FDC said even as the NRM continues to present UPE and USE as centres of “free education”, parents across Uganda know the reality is very different.
“The quality of learning in the UPE and USE remains poor because of the little interest paid to learners through skeletal funding allocated to each learner. Funding provided to schools remains inadequate,” Centenary emphasised.
The party noted that primary school capitation has remained at approximately sh20,000 per learner per year since 2016, a figure it said has not changed despite inflation and rising costs.
“This pales in comparison to regional peers: Kenya recently increased its allocation to Ksh 2,340 per learner, 11.7 times higher than Uganda's, while South Africa provides ZAR 1,200-1,500 per learner, 13-16 times higher, supplemented with nutrition programs and infrastructure support,” Centenary noted.
“In its 2016-2021 Manifesto, the NRM promised to ‘increase the budget allocation to textbooks and scholastic materials with a view of reducing the pupil-textbook ratio in line with the set standards’; to date, there is nothing. Therefore, an education system cannot be called free when parents are continuously forced to fill the funding gaps left by the government.”
Where are free sanitary pads, school feeding?
Centenary tasked the government to account for unfulfilled pledges on sanitary pads and school feeding.
“During the 2015 campaign, President Museveni acknowledged that girls were dropping out or missing school because they could not afford sanitary pads and promised government intervention.”
“In 2017, the education minister Janet Kataha Museveni reaffirmed the pledge and later in 2021, the government said they would establish a factory to manufacture sanitary towels. Years later, the promise of universal free sanitary pads has still not been delivered as promised,” the statement reads.
“The burden of feeding children has effectively been pushed back onto parents, including poor rural families who already struggle with school materials, uniforms, transport and other expenses.”
“And there are so many questions to ask from the NRM, because they have always made Manifestos which they just throw away after elections, and wait for another five years to come and lie to Ugandans.”
Centenary said Uganda needs an education system that treats education as a public responsibility rather than a market commodity, and proposed six key reforms.
“The government should provide adequate and predictable financing of UPE and USE, sufficient to ensure that parents are not forced to finance basic government obligations,” he promised.
A survey conducted by New Vision on the first day of school opening for the third term on Monday indicates that many schools, both government-aided and private, have registered less than 50 percent attendance in the first four days of the third term.
Parents decry endless requirements
Parents interviewed complained that schools have turned the third term into a fundraising season, demanding not only school fees but also a long list of requirements, including reams of paper, toilet paper, brooms, mops, sugar, maize flour, beans, washing soap, hand sanitiser, and money for mock examinations, MDD and farewell parties.
Jamil Muvawala, a parent of two children at Makamu Primary School in Najjanankumbi, Kampala, said he was asked to pay for requirements that included various books and coloured pencils for P.4 and P.3 children, which he said was awkward.
“Since when did upper-class children start using colours? My children have not reported today because they want us to first settle the requirements. I do not know when they shall come,” Muvawala said.
Susan Zawedde, a parent with three children, said the school wanted fees plus two reams of paper at sh 25,000 each, 10 toilet rolls, 5 kgs of sugar, 5 bars of soap, a broom and sh100,000 for Primary Seven mock exams.
“Where do they expect me to get all that money? I sell tomatoes in Kalerwe market, but business is down because of the drought. My children are still at home,” she lamented.