Centenary Bank, Uganda’s leading commercial microfinance bank has encouraged parents to take up relief financing options offered by the bank to enable them to take their children back to school, following reopening of the education sector.
Mrs. Beatrice Lugalambi, the General Manager Corporate Communication and Marketing at Centenary Bank said, “We are aware of the financial burden that comes with sending children back to school especially after the unprecedented times the economy has faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to encourage the parents to take up the financial solutions we have offer under our Cente Education and individual salary loans which have been designed to meet the needs of parents and guardians looking to pay school fees.”
“Customers can access up to UGX 5 million within 24 hours under the Cente Education to clear school fees and buy other requirements. The loan has a 6-12 months repayment period and allows for flexibility during repayment with low interest rates,” she added. All you require is a school bank slip and an employee contract for those who wish to apply for the salary loans.
Following the Presidential address, schools have been reopened after being shut down for close to two years due to the global pandemic outbreak in Uganda in March 2020. This was followed with a disruption in economic activities which heavily affected income sources for many parents.
According to the Ministry of Education and Uganda National Examination’s Board (UNEB) statistics, it indicates that the number of school drop outs is alarming and of over 1.8 million pupils who start P1, less than 800,000 complete Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in P7. Amongst the causes of the hike in school dropouts is attributed to household factors such as poverty that leads to failure in paying school fees for the children.
“Schools have also been hit hard during this time and in response to that, the bank came up with concessions like the reduction of interest accrued by 30% for schools that pay fully in advance. We also have a recovery fund where qualifying schools can apply for loans up to UGX 100 million to enable them return to normalcy,” Lugalambi said.
Centenary Bank customers can also apply for quick loans of up to UGX 5 million with no security or paper work requirement using CenteMobile banking to pay for school fees. The loan is instant, and money goes to the customer’s account. Just dial *211# or log onto the CenteMobile App, select CenteMobile Loan option and follow the prompts.
Parents can also conveniently pay school fees using the alternative digital banking channels; CenteMobile and CenteAgents to avoid long queues in the banking halls. The CenteAgent platform has about 3,500 agents at different locations around the country that can enable parents and guardians to pay or deposit school fees within their neighborhoods.
