At a national children’s forum this week, one participant put a blunt question to education officials: why raise school fees when some families are already struggling to pay what’s currently required?
The 18th annual National Children’s Council brought together more than 500 children on Thursday, 6 August, representing peers from the sector to district, provincial, and Kigali city levels, to raise issues affecting their education.
Josue Harerimana, a boy from Rusizi District, told the gathering that limited household income already keeps some children out of school — and that recent fee increases only deepen a problem some families were already struggling with.
*”In Rwanda, we have a real problem with kids dropping out of school. When I asked some of them why, the answer was money — they can’t afford school fees. Now I’m hearing that fees are going up again next year. How does that square with education for everyone?”* he said.
The question drew applause from the children gathered in the chamber at the Parliament building, a reaction that suggested it struck a chord with many in the room.
An official representing the Ministry of Education responded that dropout rates are driven by a range of factors, including family conflict, but said the government continues to do what it can to keep all children in school.
Minister of Education Joseph Nsengimana recently announced that government support to schools will be increased to keep pace with rising market prices, alongside an increase in the parental contribution. For nursery and primary schools, the parental contribution toward the school feeding program will rise from 975 Frw to 2,000 Frw.
For day students in secondary school, the contribution will rise from 19,500 Frw to 24,000 Frw, while boarding students will now pay 110,000 Frw per year, up from the previous 85,000 Frw per term.
Minister Nsengimana said the changes are driven largely by rising prices, but that the government will also increase its own support to schools so the burden doesn’t fall entirely on parents — with the capitation grant the government provides to schools set to rise by more than 65%.
RADIOTV10