By Moses Lokeris
A section of parents of Moroto High School are angry over the increment of school fees for academic year 2026, describing the move as an unjustifiable financial burden amid an already strained economy.
Addressing the Annual General Meeting (AGM) over the weekend, Eric Fred Sabila informed parents and guardians about the revised school fees structure for next year.
He said that the Board of Governor (BOG) met recently and agreed to increase the fees for next academic year by Shs100,000, representing 10 percent.
According to the new structure, “O” level students will pay Shs 520,000 on top of Shs420,000 they were paying in the recently concluded academic year, while those in “A” level will part with Shs540,000 up from Shs440,000 in 2025, academic year.
Sabila, said that the increment is to enable the schools sustain feeding program following the withdrawal of food support by World Food Program (WFP).
World Food Program has been providing food ratios covering breakfast, and lunch for 30 secondary schools and 6 tertiary institutions in Karamoja sub-region, including Moroto High School, but the support has ended due to lack of funds.
According to Sabila, the withdrawal of food support by World Food Program has created a big gap difficult to fill given the fact that the region is food insure, a reason the school administration decided to hike the school fees to cater for feeding of students.
However, the 10 percent increment has infuriated some of the parents who claim that the fee is exorbitant given the current economic crisis.
Godfrey Akol, said that many students will drop out of school because most parents may not be able to pay the fees.
“This is uncalled for. Not at this point in time. “People are already burdened by taxes, levies, and other payments to the government, and the economic crunch is weighing heavily on households”, said Akol.
She accused the school administrators of defying the government directive against increasing school fees for continuing students.
Daniel Korobe, another parent urged that the school should have increased the fees by 5 percent not 10 percent, an increment he says is exorbitantly high.
He explained that a majority of the parents depend on subsistence farming as a primary source of getting school fees and may find it hard to pay school fees for their children.
However, Anna grace Natee, supported the increment, saying that its affordable compared to other schools in the region and urged parents to embrace the changes for the good of their children.
