When unpaid school fees mean more than missing class

My mother valued education so much that She did whatever it took to pay our fees. From talking to head teachers for a little more time, to paying in installments, Shey did it. I remember this time when we were going to visit my brother who was in boarding school and I learned that my mother had to take Shs 1,000 to complete his school fees.

Yes, do not roll your eyes. Those were the days when school fees were still paid at school and a dollar was worth Shs 1,195, while a litre of fuel cost Shs 944. When I asked her, in one of my bold moments, how they managed to pay our school fees, she said. “We’d talk to Father (the school was run by priests) and he allows us to pay in installments.”

That way, when pupils were being sent home for unpaid fees, we were never on the list because someone had made a plea for us ahead of time. Even when my parents’ finances improved, school fees were paid before edibles were bought. Strangely, whenever the teacher read out the names of school fees defaulters, I envied those going home. 

But in hindsight, I am thankful because my parents did everything to keep us in school. Sometimes, the names of fee defaulters were read, just ahead of exams. That meant that these students would miss exams. In other instances, they returned to a load of notes to copy, which was back-breaking.

I became even more grateful that I never had to be sent home when a friend shared what that period meant for him. Coming from a home where his parents’ marriage was on the rocks, being sent home for unpaid school fees was a nightmare. He also knew that his father’s ability to pay was reducing by the day, yet he had two families to take care of. So, whenever his name was read, he quickly ran to the head teacher’s office to seek an exemption. He said this was always one of the toughest times of the term.

This dear friend of mine represents many students, who become emotionally distressed whenever that list is read. They know that home holds no hope for them, yet the school also needs its money. They are caught between two difficult realities, neither of which they have the power to change.

That reminds me of the plight of some of my friends who were on school bursaries. They had to remain at school, when everyone else went home at the end of term and work towards their school fees. The labour was tough. However, they agreed to weather the burden to ensure that they did not become school dropouts. Looking back, what I once saw simply as other children getting the chance to go home was, for some of them, a difficult reminder of the financial struggles they endured.