Don’t force Students Into Boarding Sections, MoE tells Schools
On Monday, this week, students and pupils in semi candidate classes returned to school.
It would be good news for the parents, students and country at large but turned out to be a misfortune to the day scholars whose respective schools forced them to join boarding sections and at an increased fees.
Parents and political activists came out to fight against the practice to which they termed as an injustice to families that can not afford boarding schools and yet they want their children to study.
While addressing press on Wednesday at Uganda Media Centre-Kampala about the reopening of education institutions, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Education and Sports, Alex Kakooza said that it’s irregular for schools to force day scholars into boarding.
Kakooza is saying that schools should go back to the three categories of schools recommended by the government of Uganda, that is day schools, Boarding Schools and Day and Boarding Schools.
Kakooza asked schools to make arrangements especially those with boarding and Day scholars which can encompass all the scholars to see that none is missing.
“We request our schools to make arrangements for students especially those with day and boarding scholars, if you not accommodate them at once. We gave options like teaching them in shifts, for instance the boarding students attend in the morning then the day scholars come in afternoon or you alternate them according to days.” Kakooza highlighted.
“According to our research team, we received complaints from parents saying that their children are going to miss school because some schools are forcing them to board.
We want to make this clear, We have three categories of schools in Uganda, day schools, boarding a d those with day and boarding section.” One the Ministry representatives explained.
“When we sent the first guidelines, the category that had issues is that of day and boarding, the rest of the schools are supposed to operate according to their formal accepted classification. But I learnt is that some schools have actually converted classrooms into dormitories, they don’t have boarding facilities, this is not accepted and we are moving out to close such schools.
I request schools to go back to their original status, we shall not allow children to miss school because of certain decisions which are not authorized.” She continued.
Permanent secretary also hinted on the reopening of Nursery schools and he said they did not ban them but pit them on lockdown because what they can’t control.
About the increment of school fees by some schools, Kakooza said that the ministry is also concerned and asked schools to increase fees compared to that of first term.