Local leaders in Buyende District have issued a stern warning to school principals at Universal Secondary Schools (USE) not to withhold the results of candidates with outstanding school fee balances due to be released next year.

The warning comes on the heels of the incident where 30 under-senior candidates of Buyende Seed Secondary School-Namusita were initially barred from appearing for the exams due to unpaid extra school fee fees.

Buyende Resident District Commissioner Retired Major Betty Akello Otekat intervened and allowed the candidates to take the exam.

He emphasized that public schools should not hide results under the guise of those not paying the fees, as these students are funded by the government under USE. “Charging extra fees is sabotaging the government’s efforts to provide education to poor students,” he said. “Whoever is doing this must stop.”

Major Otekat emphasized that illegal school fees cause dropouts and jeopardize the future prospects of students from poor families. He stated that schools colluded with school bodies to charge extra for meals and salaries of unpaid teachers.

“Can you explain the periodic government grant of Shs50 million through USE? This grant could also cover meals instead of charging illegal fees,” he said.

Despite warnings from the President and Ministry of Education officials, most public schools continue to charge extra fees for meals, teacher salaries and public services. Mr Julius Tamale, head teacher of Buyende Seed Secondary School, justified the extra fees by saying, “We charge extra for food because students cannot study on an empty stomach.”

He stated that it was insufficient and called on the government to increase the per capita grant.

The Universal Secondary Education (USE) program was launched in 2007 to increase access to education for children from poor families. 142,010 candidates have registered for the ongoing UACE exams this year.