Parents cry foul over exorbitant interview charges

Parents have cried foul over exorbitant fees that schools ask them to pay before their children are allowed to sit for interviews.

With the school year coming to an end, some parents are eager to change their children’s schools before the start of the new school year.

Both private and public primary schools are asking parents to pay interview fees for children that range from 10,000 to 150,000 shillings in some cases.

At some schools, the interviews have attracted hundreds of pupils only for the schools to select a handful of them.

At East Kololo Primary School, parents are asked to pay ten thousand shillings to cater for the cost of running the interviews.

At Hormisdallen, parents pay 120,000 for the interviews.

Cephas Kamya, the head teacher at Hormisdallen Primary School located in Kamwokya said the money is necessary to enable the school cater for interview costs.

So far the school has received more than 50 pupils during their ongoing interview process.

“Interviews are written on paper and we need to facilitate the teachers who actually take their time to supervise and mark the done papers. So, we ask parents for that money to cater for the interview stationary and application fees for new students,” he said.

Parents we spoke to said that the interview charges are being used by schools to get money from unsuspecting parents who want their children to go to better schools.

Gladys Namuli, a parent says that schools these days are charging all sorts of money to make a living.

“Schools charge us for everything from doing interviews to sitting exams and even providing drinking water for our children. I was recently asked to pay fees for my son to do an interview at St. Savio and I think it is unfair. If schools cannot run interviews without fees, then they should not conduct them,” said Namuli.

Francis Kabagambe, a father of two said schools are reaping off parents by making them pay for interviews and yet deny their children vacancies after.

Henry Ntende, another parent, said schools attract many interviewees and yet only choose a handful of pupils at the end of the process.

Ntende said that while he understands the necessity for schools to charge some money for interviews, schools are going overboard with the practice.

Alex Kakooza, permanent secretary Ministry of Education said the fees are illegal and the schools asking for them will be reprimanded.

“Interviews are free and parents should not pay for them. In both government and private schools interviews should be free and not be paid for. Why are parents paying for interviews yet they also have to pay school fees?” he asked.

According to a circular that was sent out to all schools by the Ministry of Education last month, all cash and non-cash requirements like interview charges outside the approved school fees are prohibited.

Kakooza urged all parents to be on the lookout for what he called illegal school charges and to inform the Ministry of Education.

Last month, the ministry scrapped primary one interviews in all schools.