How are PEAS schools sustainable?

When a PEAS school first opens it charges low fees. Each school has boarding students who pay slightly higher fees and this money is used to cross-subsidise day school fees to keep them low. As each school matures, fees from the boarders will also cross-subsidise around 200 free places in each school. Unlike many other schools in Uganda, PEAS school fees include lunch and books so students don't have to cover any additional costs.

 

In February 2011 PEAS entered into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Ugandan government, which provides a subsidy per student per term. We are piloting this partnership in three of our schools and if it’s successful, it will be rolled out to other PEAS schools in the future. The government subsidy provides enough money to make all day school places free for new students entering the first year. Our low fee system is already educating thousands of children who would otherwise have been unable to attend secondary school. The addition of a government subsidy to our schools is great news because as it means that even the very poorest students can get the secondary education they deserve.

 

Once a PEAS school is established, we invest in Income Generating Activities (IGAs), usually in its second year. These currently include bee-keeping and brick-making and in the future, also school uniform tailoring, nursery planting and forestry. We aim to not only provide additional income for our schools, but also to teach students a useful vocational skill. To find out more about IGAs click here.