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The Uganda National Teachers' Union (UNATU) has called on the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to increase the capitation grant for government-aided primary schools, saying the current sh20,000 per pupil per annum is insufficient.

Filbert Bates Baguma, the UNATU general secretary, in a press briefing at UNATU headquarters in Kampala on February 21, 2024, said "During this financial year 2024/2025, the government should start increasing the capitation grant finances for both primary and secondary education to ensure a smooth running of teaching-learning activities.”

(UNATU) is a teachers’ labour union formed to promote, protect and advocate for improved working conditions for its members. UNATU has 400 members across all education sectors countrywide, with 10 regional secretariats and over 139 district structures countrywide.

Baguma said the government pays sh20,000 per learner per year, suggesting that this should be increased to sh100,000 per learner. For the ordinary level government pays sh58,000 per child per term but this should be increased to sh100,000 per learner per term.

Baguma said the government pays sh98,000 for students attending Advanced Level and that this should be increased to sh150,000 per student per term.

According to the Capitation Grants expenditure guidelines, 50 percent of the grant is supposed to be spent on instructional materials, 30 percent on co-curricular activities, 15 percent on school maintenance and utilities, including water and power, 5 percent on school administration.

Baguma intimated that failure to increase funding for primary and secondary government schools has paved the way for the mushrooming of private schools country-wide, which charge exorbitant fees.

To make matters worse, Baguma said, even the insufficient capitation grant is not released timely. He said beginning of the new school term this month, several schools failed to open due to the unavailability of funds.

“The option of public education through UPE and USE programs remains the best way to ensure increased access to education for all Ugandan children but this sector remains underfunded, grappling with under-resourced teaching and learning environments which affects the quality of education offered,” explained Baguma.

Baguma was flanked by Dennis Sinyolo, the Director of Education International's African Regional, a body comprising of educators in Africa determined to advocate for quality public education for all, made up of 121 affiliates in 53 of the 57 countries in Africa, including Lebanon and Palestine in the Middle East.

“Uganda should copy from Zimbabwe who allocates at least 30 percent of its national budget on the education sector to cater for quality education for all its children,” Sinyolo advised.

Baguma intimated: “It can be noted that the national budget approved by Parliament in May 2023, increased from sh48.13 trillion for the financial year 2022/23 to sh52.7 trillion for the financial year 2023/24, the education sector budget reduced, with a decline from sh4.11 trillion allocated in the financial year 2022/2023 to sh4.024 trillion approved for the financial year 2023/24 this places the education sector budget allocation at 7.91 percent.”

“In 2000, the government signed a commitment in the Dakar Convention to find 20 percent of the national budget. The level of spending on Education in Uganda falls short of international targets, Uganda has not committed even 12 percent of its national budgets towards education," Baguma said.

Asked to comment on the government’s recent ban on building fees in both public and private schools, Baguma said the government may not sustain the ban unless it increases the funding allocated to both primary and secondary government-aided schools.

“I have seen the government banning a total of 12 items fees as stated in the media last Monday, that have been levied by public and private schools, but this is a complex thing, however, it is not new because it has been announced before,” Baguma said.

"During this financial year 2024/2025 the government should start increasing the capitation grant finances for both primary and secondary education in time to ensure a smooth running of teaching-learning activities," he suggested.

Baguma explained that banning building funds from schools means the government has to cater for non-teaching or support staff including gatekeepers, cooks, guards, and drivers by putting them on its payrolls for the schools not to charge money meant to cater for their salaries.

On enforcement of the ban, Baguma said: “Whenever the government proposes to do something the enforcers don’t follow up or implement what is on paper into practical works which is paramount and necessary.”

“There is a conflict of interests on who is to enforce the laws, as some of the private schools are owned by ministers, Members of Parliament, inspectors of Schools, district chairpersons, technical officers in the Ministry of Education, and councillors who are meant to implement the ban," Baguma said.

He expressed concern about the state of government schools under (UPE) and (USE) programs. Despite these initiatives aimed at providing free education, he observed that many such schools are poorly facilitated and in a deteriorating condition.

“Most government schools lack learning materials and teachers don’t have morale due to poor payments, which leaves us no choice but to take our children to facilitated private schools which overcharge us,” Baguma said.

Baguma advised that the government should first set up the required infrastructure including classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, latrines toilets to provide water for its schools and recruit more teachers to achieve the desired goal of maintaining a 1:40 teacher-pupil ratio at the primary level, before banning of building fees in the private owned schools.