{UAH} Govt should not abolish paying school fees

I was perplexed to learn that President Museveni's manifesto team can agree to a plan to do away with fees in public schools.

Very puzzling to think that such a move was technically, rationally or politically guided. Removing fees is a very unfortunate proposal.

I bet, in making such a decision, political interest could have overridden technical rationality and guidance. Such a decision may sound politically correct in some quarters but it has dire consequences on the road to emancipating our country.

 We need to note that when good people give society good politicians, they ought to in turn, make good policies to inform good plans and programmes.

This good is the "public good" that we all cherish. Ugandans don't need free education in the 21st Century. Instead, they need to be asked to work hard for a good life to which they owe nobody but themselves.

The fact that many Ugandans are presumed to be in middle income status at the end of this year justifies  the need to stay  school fees. There is need for a public debate on staying or abolishing fees and not to leave it to the manifesto drafting team alone.

Academic institutions must stand out to be counted on leading a public lecture to interrogate the efficacy of this removal of fees.

Ten years to the conclusion of Sustainable Development agenda 4; quality education, fees are the only guarantor for quality.

Phenomenologically, abolition of fees in schools cannot suffice to inform a global discourse.

 Uganda's social and economic transformation cannot be delivered by free education lest we continue sending our young men and women to the Middle East as domestic workers.

Removal of fees is not the discussion but cost sharing is. A good education should purpose parents and students to demand for accountability from the system they pay for.  If allowed to make a financial contribution, parents will have a stake in the schools and the education of their children. This is the reason Parents Teachers Associations need to be strengthened and not weakened to promote education democracy.

It is wrong for a section of Ugandans to think that the President has the responsibility to educate their children. Ugandans need to know that the only inheritance they can offer their children is quality education.

Men and women need to work so hard to ensure their children get the best education. Quality education can never be free.

The conversation to remove fees from schools should not be left to the President and his advisors alone but rather be extended to the next frontiers for debate.

Since a monkey cannot adjudicate a case in which a forest has to be burnt down, the advisers should read this article for a deeper reflection to deepen their sagacity and honesty.

Should the President be left to remove fees from schools, Uganda's education system will have been killed.  Universal Primary Education as a programme cannot be scaled before it is fully reviewed scientifically.

Statistical evidence from Uganda National Examinations Board is enough to offer a verdict on universalised education.

Largely, society is deficient of critical thinkers and analysts to challenge themselves why they do not need to work for their own education but rather expect free deliverables.

Removing fees tantamounts to transferring the current education system from the intensive care unit to a death bed. It is unfortunate that those around the big man can choose to lie to him without reflection on whether they should keep lying to him all the time.

Patrick Kaboyo, Education consultant

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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