Making Sense of Borrowing To Pay School Fees

February 16, 2026

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Uganda’s education system dictates that tuition fees are paid at the start of every term of three months, or in a lump sum, for the full year.
The opening days of school therefore often turn out to be very stressful for parents, and head teachers too, as research indicates that due to the financial challenges with these terms of payment, only 30% of children have their fees cleared on day-one of the school term.

With many parents and guardians across Uganda without guaranteed stable or regular revenue streams, borrowing becomes a necessity.
Well, until the entry into the country of fin-tech company Furaha in September last year, options to borrow on “friendly terms”, or from made for purpose education schemes, were very limited.

Furaha Co-Founder, Yustus Aribariho told the press today at 1 Kololo Hill Drive in Kampala that, “the current narrative around financial inclusion is focused on providing small loans, but these loans hardly make a dent in people’s lives. In Africa, people face real challenges that technology can solve.”

Read more HERE.