By Spy Uganda Correspondent
According to information from our Correspondents from Rwanda, the country’s private schools are closing down day and night due to stiff competition from improved government’s public schools.
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In fact, TheSpy Uganda has learnt that some desperate proprietors of these private institutions are now asking the government to sponsor students in private schools at public rates, a move that Gov’t has rejected.
According to some proprietors of these schools, the “problem” started with the government’s twelve-year basic education policy which made public schools affordable and preferable.
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“We’ve suffered a sharp decline in the number of students enrolled, yet the school had accumulated debt, unpaid salaries and owes arrears to suppliers. It is not clear if the school will re-open,” said Samuel Batamba, the headteacher at College Nkunduburezi in Gakenke District.
The worried H/teacher added that the school used to have 900 students but now has only 80 students after it failed to attract new students while others enrolled in public schools.
According to the reports, the Ministry of Education invested hugely in expanding capacity and teaching infrastructure at public schools across the country; introduced the school feeding programme and abolished school fees.
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According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, the government owns 460 out of the more than 1,575 schools in the country.
The rest are run by religious bodies with the Catholic church owning 620 schools, the Anglican church 279, Adventist church 22 and Muslim schools are at 16. Another 178 schools are run by parents’ associations and individuals.
Figures show that students in private schools decreased from 101,510 in 2012 to 79,076 in the 2018 year while enrolment in public and government-aided schools almost doubled in the same period.
