Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) is calling out school heads who are demanding examination and printing fees from parents of public basic school pupils ahead of term assessments starting Monday, April 7.
According to Eduwatch, some schools are threatening to exclude pupils whose parents fail to pay — a move they describe as illegal and unacceptable.
“Basic education is supposed to be free, compulsory, and universal,” Eduwatch stressed, citing Section 2(b) of the Pre-Tertiary Education Act 2020. “No child should be excluded from exams because their parents can’t pay.”
The education think tank says while it supports voluntary parental contributions to school development, it must never become mandatory or tied to assessments.
“This practice of charging parents to fund school assessments is against the principles of equity and the law governing Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE),” Eduwatch added.
They called on the Ministry of Education to ensure funds are made available to schools for assessments without burdening parents.
“We know funds have not been timely over the years,” Eduwatch admitted, “but punishing parents for systemic funding gaps is unsustainable.”
Eduwatch further urged the Minister of Education to act swiftly to prevent any child from being barred from exams due to non-payment of fees.
“We are also calling on the Director-General of GES to ensure no pupil is denied participation in the upcoming exams simply because their parents can’t pay,” the statement concluded.
