At Uganda Martyrs’ School, students must pay in full before classes begin. Tuition has reached $600 per term.
Parents across sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to afford tuition at Catholic schools, long valued for quality and accessibility. In Uganda, a mother was turned away from St. Kizito Secondary School for failing to pay 60% of her son’s fees. “She was pleading, ‘Please help me,’” said teacher Beatrice Akite.
The Catholic Church, the region’s largest non-governmental educator, is being criticized for rising costs. Akite and others call for fee regulation. At Uganda Martyrs’ School, students must pay in full before classes begin. Tuition has reached $600 per term.
Ronald Reagan Okello of the Ugandan bishops conference explained, “We are competing with the private sector… we are forced to raise the school fees.”
In Zimbabwe, similar concerns grow over privatization. “The possibility that [fees] would be out of reach for the vulnerable is there,” warned educator Peter Muzawazi. Critics urge the Church to maintain affordability and protect its legacy of educational inclusion.
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