Uganda’s education sector continues to grapple with challenges of inadequate financing, high learning poverty, and the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 70% of the country’s population under the age of 25, the issue of sustainable funding for schools has become a national priority.
This concern was the central theme at the SchoolPay 2025 Education Symposium, held on September 3 at the Kampala Serena Hotel under the theme “Building a Resilient Education Value Chain: Financing Models for Sustainable Growth.”
Juliet Atuhaire Muzoora, Commissioner at the Ministry of Education and Sports, thanked Fincom and SchoolPay for their innovation in addressing these gaps.
“SchoolPay is not just providing a financing solution; it is also showing our young people the way forward. In our competence-based curriculum, children are even emulating what SchoolPay does in their projects on financing solutions. With 70% of our population being youth, how we handle them is the key to our nation’s future, and SchoolPay is a powerful tool for that,” she said.
She further highlighted that accountability remains a critical issue in the education sector.
“As a ministry, we face a major challenge with accountability. SchoolPay helps by pooling all the collections of our institutions into one place. This system allows school leaders, boards of governors, and directors to control both what comes in and what goes out, providing a level of transparency we truly appreciate. This is why we are happy to have SchoolPay as part of the enhancement of quality education,” she explained.
Atuhaire also applauded the pocket money management solution that SchoolPay has introduced.
“Before this innovation, managing pocket money was a nightmare for parents. Now, our children have wristbands to manage their funds. I appeal to you, the stakeholders, to go a step further and provide financial education to these learners so they learn not just to spend but also to save,” she said.
The symposium attracted policymakers, financial institutions, telecom companies, and development partners, who explored financing solutions for schools and parents.
Joseph Ndiho Kiiza, Board Chair of Fincom Technologies, acknowledged that many still perceive SchoolPay as a simple digital school fees payment platform but stressed its broader vision.
“When the public thinks of us, they still imagine a simple school fees payment platform. But from day one, we had far bigger dreams. Our ambition is to create a value chain platform that connects every stakeholder—parents, schools, banks, telecoms, suppliers, and even government,” he noted.
Currently, SchoolPay aggregates millions of transactions across thousands of schools, giving institutions a centralized financial record. For parents, the platform reduces risks associated with cash payments and links them to credit options such as school fee loans. For government, it provides real-time data on school finances that can guide policy and improve the monitoring of resources like capitation grants.
The importance of such innovations is underscored by global education financing gaps. While Uganda allocates up to 20% of its national budget to education, the World Bank reports that 70% of children in low- and middle-income countries complete primary school without being able to read a simple passage. In Africa, millions of children remain out of school, while those enrolled face shortages of infrastructure and trained teachers.
Despite these challenges, the education finance market presents huge opportunities, valued at \$36.4 billion globally, with Africa contributing \$5.4 billion.
Tineyi Mawocha, Chief Programme Officer and Africa Regional Director of Opportunity International, explained how school financing solutions are already having impact.
“Schools that access financing can expand classrooms, hire better teachers, and invest in water and sanitation facilities. Parents who access fee loans are keeping their children in school instead of pulling them out. That is direct social impact with measurable returns,” he said.
“At Opportunity International, we have cumulatively worked with 208 financial institution partners in 32 countries. We use Opportunity Bank here in Uganda and in Ghana as ‘sandboxes’ to experiment with products. So far, 19 million children have benefited, with over \$1 billion invested into the education sector, mainly through affordable non-state or private schools,” he added.
Ugandan data indicates that 85% of parents who accessed fee loans through SchoolPay’s partnerships were able to keep their children enrolled.
Kiiza emphasized that SchoolPay’s role extends beyond fee tracking.
“We’re not just tracking fees. We’re linking financial flows with operational data like student and teacher attendance, lesson coverage, and school infrastructure gaps. This creates a performance profile of every school, which is invaluable for banks, regulators, and policymakers,” he explained.
“For financial institutions, this reduces risk. For government, it provides evidence for policy. For schools, it delivers transparency. And for parents, it ensures accountability,” he added.
Mawocha further pointed to Furaha, a digital lending platform co-created with Standard Chartered Ventures, telecom operators, and financial institutions, which provides parents with school fee loans via mobile wallets.
“We partnered with Standard Chartered Ventures on a platform called Furaha, which provides a lending facility to parents to access school fees. So far, 25 million telco wallets can access Furaha, and we know that six million children in Uganda can have their fees paid through a Furaha loan,” he highlighted.
He called for blended financing to strengthen the education sector.
“To build a resilient education value chain, we must mobilize blended finance, engaging DFIs, commercial banks, and philanthropic capital. We must also scale proven models like the school improvement and school fee loans through partnerships with financial institutions,” Mawocha said.
Commissioner Atuhaire urged that the innovation should not stop at fees but extend to monitoring government grants.
“SchoolPay has helped parents pay fees, but how can we use this technology to monitor the capitation grants and other government grants given to our institutions? As a ministry, we are ready to partner with you on policy to ensure this innovation doesn’t just end with fees but improves the overall management and delivery of education,” she said.
Charity Mutagamba, CEO of Fincom, affirmed the company’s commitment to working closely with government.
“We are not against working with government. In fact, we see policy partnership as the next frontier—ensuring transparency in public funds while supporting financial sustainability for schools,” she said.
