I am sure we have all had that story that is told in every high school where a student took advantage of his parent’s illiteracy and fleeced him of about 200K in the name of paying for “photosynthesis and chlorophyll.” I don’t know know about its accuracy but it is not different from this revelation by a parent.
Alex (not real name) is a father of four who has messaged Campus Bee to reveal his experience with his first born son that was admitted to Makerere University and spent four years living a life beyond his means because he had inflated the fees structure. Below is his story;
When my first born was admitted to Makerere University, I was so over joyed. I started seeing a clear ray of hope for my family and generation as he was going to be the first university graduate in the family. I am a Primary School teacher and I understood the value of education so I could do anything to ensure that my boy attained it.
He was admitted to do a bachelor of Law and I made sure every one in my village knew that my soon would soon be a lawyer and drive monster cars that I have been seeing lawyers drive. Little did I know that he would take advantage of my excitement to fleece me of every savings I had accumulated.
Semester per semester, I worked myself dry to raise 1.8M tuition, 1.2M in hostel fees (after he told me he failed to get a hall of residence) and 1M in food which he told me the hostel charged. Yet as it turned out, he was paying 1.2M for tuition, 300K accommodation in Lumumba Hall and the most he could spend on food per semester was 300K on a meal card for government food.
By the time I realized what he had done to me, my daughter had enrolled at the same university for the same course and was staying in Mary Stuart Hall when she was told that her brother was a former Chairman of Lumumba – that is near her own hall and she was charging me the exact fees that the university demanded without adding a penny. The contrast in costs broke my heart at that time, but there is nothing I could do. May God bless my daughter.
It is not so long ago by the way, my son was admitted in 2010 and I have never told this story but everyday it has been hurting me knowing that out there, there is a similar parent suffering my misfortune because our children have grown in an era where if you are not holding the popular iPhone – you are not holding a phone at all.
I call upon students to be considerate of their parents and understand that they put everything on the line to see that their sons and daughters achieve an education. It is very unfair when you hike fees because then you leave them indebted and selling whatever properties they would otherwise leave for you to inherit.
To my fellow parents, try and be observant. Befriend your children and ensure that they don’t grow up with bad habits of lying and thieving since these are what they would later use in life to do such things to you. I forgave my son, but I learn’t a lesson and it hurts me when another parent suffers the same.
