The first school term of 2023 is now less than two weeks away and in fact some schools have already opened, especially for the candidate classes  

However, as parents and guardians get ready to take children back to school and even enroll new ones in Pre-primary and secondary schools, the tough economic times have left parents worried. 

COU Family TV’s Rita Nandera visited the scholastic items sale hub in Kikuubo, Kampala to find out how the businesses are fairing and filed this report.

Traders who have been operating in the Kikuubo business hub in Kampala for years say that their sales have dropped significantly compared to the same time last year and before. They attribute the decline to the challenging economy characterized by high prices.

We found a parent, Rita Nandera, a resident of Kireka near Kampala shopping for her child in Kikuubo. Mutaleja says that due to high prices, she has had to dig deeper into her pocket to get even less scholastic materials compared to 2022.

Another parent had similar challenges but she stated that however much things are hard, children have to go back to school and the burden has to be overcome by parents who have to find ways around it. She says this can include engaging schools to agree on a plan to slowly clear the tuitions.  

Even then, the parents have prepared their children to return to school, with the majority of schools reopening in the first week of February.  

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) is expected to release the 2022 Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) results soon. Thereafter, there will be a selection exercise and the new Senior One students are expected to report to school within the month of February.