The government has urged parents to ensure their children report to school on the first day of the Third Term, warning that late reporting could deprive learners of valuable learning time in the short academic term. The Ministry of Education and Sports also told parents who have not raised school fees to negotiate with school administrators for payment arrangements instead of keeping their children at home.
Who Has the Power
State Minister for Higher Education Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, who is also the acting Education minister, said parents should prioritise sending children back to school as soon as the term opens, noting that teachers are expected to begin lessons immediately. The message came from the top, as usual: the apparatus sets the schedule, and families are told to make it work.
“It is important that parents take children back to school on the first day of the term because this term is quite short and there is a lot to be covered ahead of the final assessments. There shouldn’t be any excuse for not reporting back to school,” Dr Muyingo told the Monitor. He added: “As a government, we have already put in place what the children need to learn. The teachers, materials and facilities are there. Let us mobilise our children to get back to school and start learning immediately.”
Those words put the burden squarely on parents and children, while the state presents itself as the benevolent manager of schooling. The hierarchy speaks in the language of readiness, but the pressure lands on households already trying to keep up.
Who Pays for the Delay
Dr Muyingo acknowledged that some parents were struggling to raise school fees, particularly because Third Term has begun in the middle of the month when some workers are yet to receive their salaries. That detail matters. The system demands punctuality from families whose paychecks don’t arrive on the state’s timetable.
“Talk to administrators to let the children start school as you look for the money, and remember to honour your promise; they will understand,” he advised parents. The advice sounds flexible, but it still leaves school access tied to payment and negotiation with administrators. No fee, no easy entry. That’s the arrangement.
Late reporting remains a persistent challenge in Uganda’s education sector, with learners in some rural public schools particularly affected. The delays can affect the pace of teaching and learning, particularly during the Third Term when learners either sit national or promotional examinations. The cost of the delay doesn’t sit with the ministry. It lands on children in rural public schools, who lose time in a system that already runs on pressure and deadlines.
What They're Calling Order
With national examinations expected to start early next month, the minister cautioned learners against examination malpractice and urged them to concentrate on revision and seek guidance from teachers. The state’s answer to a strained system is more discipline, more warning, more surveillance.
The Uganda National Examinations Board executive director, Mr Dan Odongo, recently warned that exam malpractice is taking new forms, with some scouts and invigilators allegedly becoming involved in the irregularities. He said Uneb was strengthening measures to curb the vice, including deploying security personnel at examination centres and tightening the security of examination papers during storage and transportation. Security personnel at exam centres. Tightened paper storage. Controlled movement. The machinery of order keeps expanding.
Uneb is yet to release the timetable for the 2026 Primary Leaving Examinations, Uganda Certificate of Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education examinations. Uneb figures show more than 1.6 million candidates have registered for the 2026 national exams. That’s a huge number of young people moving through a system managed from above, with deadlines, fees, and security measures shaping the whole process.
The government says the teachers, materials and facilities are there. Parents are told to mobilise. Administrators are told to understand. Security is told to tighten. And the children, especially those in rural public schools, are told to get there on time and keep up.