Schools under the Nine Year Basic Education program (9YBE) have been warned over charging parents extra fees as the scheme still falls with the free Primary education program.

The warning was issued yesterday by the Minister in charge of Primary and Secondary education Dr. Mathias Harebamungu.

The issue of charging extra fees came to the limelight after a big number of parents raised it with the Ministry, saying that head teachers have been charging them money calling it different names including ‘teachers’ allowances.

"We all know that in these schools education is for free, but some schools are charging us money for teachers’ allowances, cleaning, and many other things which leaves us wondering if education is free indeed,” lamented one parent.

According to Harebamungu, no school under the program is supposed to charge any fees since it is meant to allow all the children to at least attain the first nine years of education for free.

"The government has earmarked a certain amount of money to cater for such things as allowances and development of the respective schools, this money is called capitation grant,” he said.

"So this money which is paid for every child is the one supposed to be used by these schools to pay the teachers their allowances and doing other development work.”

The capitation grant money which is given to all the public schools under the 9YBE program is worth Rwf3, 500 for every student under the program.

Harebamungu said that the Ministry had instructed the inspectorate of schools to investigate the matter and come up with a report which will be based on to act on errant schools.

The Minister urged parent committees in these schools to always make sure that such policies that thwart the government programs are averted.

He however said; "If the school and parents agree on a certain fee may be meant for development purposes, it would be fine, but the parents committees and the schools should first forward the proposal to the Districts Advisory Councils for approval,” he said.

The free education policy for the first nine years came into effect at the beginning of the 2009 academic year and is intended to trim down the high levels of drop-out rates which were at 15 percent in 2006 reducing them to 2 percent by 2015.

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