The number of private schools across Uganda has increased. The Associated Press (AP) reports that they are now a majority of the country’s schools. But some people with ties to education say placing importance on the profitability of education as a business is worrying.
乌干达各地私立学校的数量有所增加。据美联社 (AP) 报道,目前该国大部分学校都是这样的。但一些与教育相关的人士表示,重视教育作为一项业务的盈利能力令人担忧。
Fagil Mandy is a former inspector of schools. Mandy said there should be standardized rules to make school fees predictable for everyone.
法吉尔·曼迪 (Fagil Mandy) 是一名前学校督学。曼迪说,应该有标准化的规则,让每个人都能预测学费。
It is normal for both private and government-supported schools to request money for many projects. These can include buying a bus or purchasing laboratory equipment.
私立学校和政府支持的学校为许多项目索要资金是很正常的。这些可以包括购买公共汽车或购买实验室设备。
Shalom Mirembe is a student who spoke to the AP. Her mother takes care of four children. Her father recently died.
沙洛姆·米伦贝 (Shalom Mirembe) 是一名接受美联社采访的学生。她的母亲照顾四个孩子。她的父亲最近去世了。
The school Mirembe attends near Kampala costs $300 per term. But her mother sends Mirembe to school without paying. She is depending on the mercy of officials.
Mirembe 就读于坎帕拉附近的学校,每学期费用为 300 美元。但她的母亲没有付钱就送米伦贝去学校。她依赖官员的怜悯。
But Joanita Seguya, a teacher at Wampewo Ntakke Secondary, said schools are taking measures to bar students from school if their parents do not pay. Seguya said of the school’s 2100 students, 400 are from families that struggle to pay fees.
但万佩沃·恩塔克中学 (Wampewo Ntakke secondary) 的老师乔安妮塔·塞古亚 (Joanita Seguya) 表示,学校正在采取措施,如果学生家长不付钱,学校将禁止学生上学。Seguya 说,学校 2100 名学生中,有 400 名来自难以支付学费的家庭。
Twenty-year-old Mirembe is taking her final exams this year. At one point, school officials were going to bar her from school because her mother had failed to pay the fees. But when school administrators found out that her father had died recently, they permitted her to return. Some of her teachers attended the funeral.
二十岁的米伦贝今年即将参加期末考试。有一次,学校官员打算禁止她上学,因为她的母亲没有缴纳学费。但当学校管理人员发现她父亲最近去世后,他们允许她返回。她的一些老师参加了葬礼。
But other families are not so fortunate.
但其他家庭就没有这么幸运了。
Moses Serikomawa is jobless with seven children. He said paying $200 in school fees each term is too much when the family lacks food sometimes. But he added, “The children still want to go back to school.”
摩西·塞里科马瓦 (Moses Serikomawa) 失业,有七个孩子。他说,当家里有时缺乏食物时,每学期支付 200 美元的学费太多了。但他补充说,“孩子们仍然想回到学校。”