HE comes with costly sacrifices for many Ugandan families

Dr Ivan Habaasa Akatwijuka knows about poverty and how it can blight a young person’s prospects. As a child, he sold bananas to pay for his schooling. Years later, when funding his PhD, he had to sell 2ha (five acres) of family land with precious eucalyptus trees.

It is no surprise that Akatwijuka’s research focuses on how students can fund their higher education. He is currently the college secretary of Uganda Christian University (UCU) Bishop Barham University College (BBUC).

Private universities worldwide offer specialised courses and opportunities that public schools sometimes do not. But, without government funding, most rely heavily on tuition fees for teachers, infrastructure and other costs.

Akatwijuka found that 90% of private universities in Uganda rely solely on student tuition fees. This puts a massive load on students and their families, often pushing them into debt or forcing them to make significant sacrifices.

The story of Akatwijuka’s struggle illustrates the problem.

Determined to succeed

He was the top pupil in primary school. But then he found himself stuck at home because his parents were struggling to pay for his older sister’s education and could not afford to send him to secondary school at the same time.

“I grew up in one of the poorest families,” he admits.

But the young Akatwijuka was determined not to let circumstances dictate his future. While waiting, he took on jobs – from helping builders to selling bananas and working in his uncle’s bakery. “From the money I made, I bought cheap coffee and sold it at a higher price, along with bananas. That is how I saved enough for my secondary school fees.”

Community members knew Akatwijuka was a determined student, so they offered him odd jobs during school holidays. Through these small tasks, he learned the value of arduous work. And his outstanding performance at secondary school brought him a government bursary to complete a first degree in business at Kyambogo University in Kampala.

He pursued his ambitions, obtaining a PhD in business administration at Kabale University in western Uganda. But that was not a walk in the park, either. To pay for tuition, he sold the land with the eucalyptus trees and went into debt.

“Funding my PhD took a toll on me. I took on loans I am still paying, and a shop I had went bankrupt because I was taking so much from it,” he said.

His research focused on the financial management and performance of private universities. Now, Akatwijuka, 46, married and the father of one, is an entrepreneur who farms coffee, mentors young people in business management, and inspires them to believe that higher education is possible.

Support from relatives, friends

Many young Ugandans show exceptional tenacity to gain an education, like Timothy Oketch, a 23-year-old graduate from Kampala International University. He went through his student years with just one pair of ‘all-purpose’ shoes and old clothes, and he felt poor compared to other students.

With his father unemployed, Oketch financed his studies by working as a shop assistant and selling snacks. Free housing from relatives kept him going, but it was never easy.

Another example is Tayebwa Allen, whose graduation from Uganda Christian University’s Bishop Barham University College (BBUC) was nothing short of a miracle.

Allen had 16 siblings and her father was unemployed. Going to university seemed like a distant dream. “It was a miracle that my dad agreed to take me to university. He had not done this for my siblings because of financial constraints,” she said.

Even with a 50% bursary from BBUC, paying the tuition was a constant struggle.

Her father had to sell a plot of land on which he had built houses to rent out. This was not enough, so he sold bananas from his garden and milk from his two cows. Still, he could not raise the tuition fees, so he took out loans to cover Allen’s expenses.

“It was hectic for my father to raise my tuition,” she said. “He would save every little bit he earned until the loans were paid off.” Her father’s sacrifices motivated her to study hard.

Struggle pays off

But then, during the second semester of her first year, Allen faced another challenge when her father could not cover the cost of her hostel accommodation. She was lucky to find a kind family who took her into their home, and another family who helped her with food. Without worrying about going hungry, she could concentrate on her studies.

With a cumulative grade point average of 4.73 (out of five), Allen was the overall best student at her November 2024 graduation. Her father hosted a grand Thanksgiving ceremony.

“Tayebwa has done me so well, she has made me so proud, and I am grateful to her for studying hard and not embarrassing me,” he said. “I am so grateful to BBUC for the partial scholarship because I could not make it on my own.”

Research offers solutions

The struggle to pay for higher education is not unique to Uganda, where the average annual income is about US$800 while private university tuition ranges from US$500 to US$2,000 yearly. Private college tuition is much more expensive in wealthier nations like the US, but Americans can access loans. Ugandans, by contrast, often must resort to selling assets such as land to pay for education.

According to Akatwijuka, this needs to change, and his research offers ideas to fix the problem. He argues that private universities should seek grants, make investments, set up endowment funds, and build partnerships to ease the pressure on students and make education accessible to all.

He points to the example of Ashesi University in Ghana, which works with businesses to fund scholarships, helping students to afford school.

Other universities in Uganda are starting to see the light, too. For example, UCU took a step to reduce over-reliance on student fees in 2017 when bishops resolved to designate the last Sunday of September as ‘UCU Sunday’. While 35% of the collection goes to clergy needs, 65% is set aside for infrastructure development on the university’s main campus and at its constituent colleges, including BBUC.