The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has requested all heads of government aided schools to return funds they had received for the second term in the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year.
This was communicated in a circular dated 22nd July 2020 from the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary Mr Keith Muhakanizi requesting accounting officers and local governments to ensure that all schools return the capitation grant, intact, considering that the schools did not open for the second term.
“Submit the documentation confirming the remittance of funds to the consolidated fund in the Bank of Uganda for all the schools under your votes to this ministry for attention of Director Budget within two weeks, in any case, not later than 6th August 2020,” part of the circular reads.
However, when the above-mentioned heads of schools recieved the message, they dissented the idea of refunding back the funds in intact as they were given to them.
According to them, although physical teaching was stopped by the government when it closed schools in March as a way of curbing the spread of coronavirus, this does not mean that all the activities shut down also.
Mr. Martin Okiria Obore, the national chairman of the Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda, said that when the President stopped students from attending school, it did not mean that schools closed. He explains that the fund given to them are used for several activities some of which remained functioning even during the lockdown which means that the said funds cannot be intact at this moment.
The said funds in form of capitation grants are calculated based on school enrollment. The government provides Shillings 10,000 for each pupil under the Universal Primary Education. Those under Universal Secondary Education are allocated Shillings 41,000 and 85,000 for O and A level respectively in addition to a block grant of shillings 100,000 per term.
