How much does ‘free’ schooling in Uganda actually cost?The cost facing households in primary education, IPRA Working Paper7

One of the major objectives of UPE and education public spending is equity.One of the major objectives of UPE and education public spending is equity. This paper assesses how equitable Uganda public education expenditure really is – how the public education expenditure differs across the districts and regions and how this has changed over time. It explores the costs facing households in sending their children to school – how these costs relate to government spending per pupil and how they have changed over time. It finds that despite universal primary education, parents with children in government-aided schools still spend more money in sending and keeping their children in schools that contribution by government taken together. They spend on uniform; transport; exercise books, pens, pencils and rubber; meals; and medicare, among others. These roles are not different from what parents had before UPE, except that they are now exempted from payment tuition. Results also show a wide disparity in resource allocation in per pupil term, across to districts, and these differences in expenditures across the districts have been on increasing trajectory over the years.