By Aggrey Baba
President Museveni has once again expressed his frustration over the continued charging of school fees in government schools. He emphasized that his message on free education is not being fully embraced, and this is negatively impacting the population.
Speaking on recently, while launching the Mbarara Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Mbarara District, part of his Ankole Parish Development Model (PDM) zonal tour, Museveni reaffirmed his commitment to free education.
“If every parish has a primary school and every subcounty has a secondary school, children should be able to study at home, with the government providing meals and other necessary materials,” Museveni said.
“Stop charging fees in government schools. It’s harmful. How can we charge poor families? These schools were created to offer free education to help the less fortunate,” he added.
These comments come as presidential skilling hubs around the country continue to provide free education, with students receiving meals and accommodation without any cost.
“I prefer not to rush into many issues, but at our hubs, education is free. No one pays, we feed them, and we provide housing. This is the model we want for government schools,” Museveni emphasized.
The president also revealed plans to expand the skilling hubs, including increasing the number of students, building more classrooms and dormitories, and adding more courses like plumbing, electronics, and mechanics.
“We will admit more students, expand the facilities, and offer more courses,” he said.
Additionally, Museveni promised to provide each skilling hub with a bus to support school activities.
“We aim to have a hub in each sub region, and every hub will get a bus to help with operations,” he stated.
The newly opened Mbarara Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub currently accommodates 998 students, 537 females and 461 males.
Each administrative unit can submit 14 students for training, though leaders have requested that this be increased to 25 students per district. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
