The Minister for Education, Valentine Uwamariya, has vowed to negotiate subsidies for schools so they can remain in business without having to pay hefty water bills. Her comments followed concerns that schools are paying water bills ‘much’ higher than during the pre-Covid-19 era. Minister Uwamariya was addressing the media on Thursday, January 7, to among others, announce the Pre-primary and Lower Primary School year calendar that begins mid-January. “It is true that the price of water has increased. We have cases of schools which used to pay Rwf300,000 and they are now paying more than Rwf900,000, they should be patient, as we negotiate with relevant authorities,” she said. She added, “It is something that requires consultation and we also need facts.” To address this challenge, minister Uwamariya noted, “We need to look at the percentages at which they will be reduced, this means that we need numbers to demonstrate this impact.” How did this challenge arrive in schools? Much as supply remains constant, The New Times has learned that given the current Covid-19 pandemic which has necessitated water usage for almost everything, water bills have never been more expensive. According to Antoine Rusingizandekwe, the Head Teacher at Groupe Scolaire EPA St. Michel, in the month of November, his school paid Rwf240,000 instead of the usual Rwf110,000. “Generally water is expensive. Today, due to the pandemic, it has become a basic need. Students wash their hands every after activity. For us, we normally use the hand washing facilities.” Rusingizandekwe pointed out, “The problem is worsened by the fact that parents are not paying well these days. They blame it on Covid-19 impacts and this makes us end up in debts as a school because we don’t have the budget.” According to him, students are supposed to be prioritized and they should not be deprived of any right to water. “For us, we give students the primary benefit. Which means that the biggest challenge is in schools.” Similarly, Jeanine Mukaneza, the Head Teacher at GS Kimisagara told this paper that the volume of water being used in schools has led to expensive bills. She explained that some schools are already cutting on the budget to see that they make up for the bills. However, Mukaneza argues that: “This is inappropriate because there are other activities that could be funded by the budget which ends up getting ignored.”
