Report raises governance issues in management of UPE schools

The Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) wants the Education ministry to urgently review the current School Management Committees (SMCs) regulations to provide for; academic qualifications for its members, remuneration, and their roles and responsibilities explicitly provided in a precise and concise manner, writes YUDAYA NANGONZI.

This follows a report that found persistent governance issues in schools implementing Universal Primary Education (UPE) due to policy and legal gaps. Titled “We are not well educated but learning on the job”, the research was conducted in 48 primary schools in Namayingo, Sheema, and Yumbe districts to assess governance and accountability in public primary education.

School Management Committees (SMCs) are established as the governing bodies of the primary schools, both private and government as per section 28 (1) of the Education Act. The membership of the SMC is by oath and deemed to be primarily voluntary service to the community. However, the report noted that this has been a subject of criticism and in several instances causing a lot of discontent and ganging up of the SMCs members on the school head teachers.

“The challenge we have is that they call us for meetings and we sit for hours and forego our work at home. You sit for three meetings without getting anything. You have children and animals left unattended to at home. You leave the meeting even without affording to buy food at home,” one SMC member told the researchers.

According to the report, this indicates that much as the regulations provide for voluntary service, the members expect to receive allowances when they sit in meetings. The District Education Officer of Sheema, Evelyn Kenyangi, attributed the ineffectiveness of the SMCs to the lack of remuneration that does not attract competent community members.

“First of all, the SMCs are not paid. Then, they have restrictions on how long they can serve. Because of this, some capable people are limited by time constraints,” Kenyangi said.

She added that paying SMC members would go a long way in motivating them to perform their tasks in the learners’ interests. To ensure harmony in schools, the report indicated that some head teachers have opted to go against the government rules to provide tokens of appreciation to the SMC.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Beyond remuneration, the report also found glaring gaps in the composition of SMC members. The term of office of the chairperson and the members of the SMCs is three years and are eligible for reappointment once.

“Despite this clear guidance, there are instances where members of the SMCs have served beyond their stipulated terms of office. During interactions in Namayingo, a member testified that he has been part of the SMC since the 1990s when the school was started to date. That, he just keeps on changing positions,” reads the report.

The overstay on SMCs was largely attributed to the foundation bodies that keep recycling the same members on the committees. The leadership of the foundation bodies in all three districts attributed the recycling of their representation to the fact that the service to the SMC is voluntary and therefore, “a number of their members are not willing to sacrifice.”

However, some parents rebutted the foundation bodies’ justification for nominating the same people. They asserted that in most cases, the nomination of representatives is informed by one’s level of activeness in church or mosque affairs regardless of the person’s credentials.

According to the report, both the Education Act and its attendant regulations are silent on the issue of academic qualification for members of the SMCs. Nevertheless, the report found that foundation bodies that are granted the highest representation consider the level of education of members, although religious inclination is the most considered.

The Catholic Church foundation body explained that: “One should be a practicing Catholic with a background in education. At least, if a nominal one, if not a practicing one, with knowledge about the Catholic faith. That is what should be the ideal, but sometimes that is not the case. A chairperson of an SMC should have an education background since under the position, you offer supervision.”

The chairperson of the Education Committee of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Hajji Mahmood Katerega Namuguze, explained that much as they consider education qualification, the community (religious) interests are prioritized, but some areas where there are few Muslims, they go for non – Muslims provided they have respect for their faith.

“We have places like Kitgum with few Muslims, in such a case if a person is not a Muslim, he or she has to be someone who respects Islam. Gender is also one of the things we consider. At least, there should be two women and they must be Muslims. Age also matters, at least 30 to 40 years,” Namuguze said.

The Uganda Muslim Education Association (UMEA)’s Hajji Abdu Nasser Kiwanuka explained that previously, they considered religion when appointing members of SMCs, but they are giving more priority to one’s levels of education.

“We are strengthening our presence in the schools at least by ensuring that the chairperson is an elite, demonstrates capacity to lead, and understands key documents. Previously, we considered the persons that pray in the mosque but now we are looking at the capacity,” Kiwanuka said.

He added: “You may not appoint highly qualified people because they show interest but get frustrated. Preferably, someone with an O level certificate would pass, but sometimes you go to the community and don’t find anyone who completed senior four.”

Despite the founding bodies alluding to considering education background, the report showed that the majority of the members of the SMCs do not have significant academic qualifications.

“It appears the law envisaged inclusive representation and undermined the possibility of elite capture of management structures in social service provision. However, the unintended and negative consequence of this otherwise unrestricted provision has been the inclusion to SMCs of people without basic knowledge and competencies to meaningfully contribute to the management of education institutions,” the report noted.

In rural communities, it is common to find illiterate members of SMCs. One of the vice chairpersons of an SMC in Namayingo, also a primary four dropout, appreciated the relevance of a relatively educated person SMC member.

“Government should look at the level of education because a person should be well educated and able to understand what he or she does. For instance, the minimum qualification should be put at senior four. We should give room to those who are well educated to take over from us.”

The roles assigned to SMCs include aspects that may require a certain level of education. For instance, under Regulation 25 of the Education (Management Committee) Regulations, the SMC has to prepare and lodge with the relevant authorities the annual estimates of the income and expenditure of the school.

In this situation, the report highlighted that the SMCs’ powers and authority are usurped by the head teachers, creating a situation where some SMC members feel incapable of performing their expected role as stipulated in the Education Act.

DISSATISFIED PARENTS

Meanwhile, the report also noted a general dissatisfaction of parents with the work of SMCs as many did not completely appreciate their role in schools.

In terms of being involved in the decision-making in the school, only 50% of the parents were satisfied, 20% were somehow satisfied and 23% were dissatisfied, and 7% were very dissatisfied. Particularly, some parents who expressed dissatisfaction with the SMCs attributed it to the low levels of transparency by the members.