Government’s commitment to expanding access to affordable and quality secondary education is being undermined by accountability and service delivery gaps at Ikiki Senior Secondary School in Budaka District.
Ikiki SSS is part of the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme, under which Government deploys and pays teachers, provides capitation grants for school operations and regulates education standards. The policy seeks to reduce financial barriers and ensure equitable access to secondary education, particularly for vulnerable learners.
During a service delivery and accountability visit, the Minister of State for Local Government, Hon. Justine Nameere Nsubuga, was informed that the school receives Shs68.8 million every term to support its operations. However, parents and students questioned how the money was being utilised, given the condition of the school. They also reported being charged Shs40,000 in school fees and Shs10,000 for examinations, raising concerns about additional charges reportedly not authorised by the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The Minister also found concerns over alleged teacher absenteeism, unpaid privately recruited teachers, inadequate learning facilities, an unfinished science laboratory and poor sanitation.
Following the complaints and physical inspection, the Minister ordered the Inspectorate of Government and the police to investigate the accused teachers, Head Teacher, and District Education Officer (DEO) for possible prosecution
The visit highlights the need to strengthen school-level accountability, district supervision and monitoring of schools, particularly the utilization of Government funds, teacher attendance, authorised charges and learning facilities, to ensure that public investment delivers the quality education envisaged under USE.
