Education should be free and compulsory as school fees often pose insurmountable blocks to children receiving an education. When poor families are forced to make difficult choices about household expendi- tures, school is often the first thing dropped, and daughters are often the first casualties. National education plans should work towards ending school fees and other hidden costs as part of well- planned educational reform strategies. By taking this step, countries will move closer to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of universal education, as well as parity in school attendance between orphans and non-orphans. Countries that have eliminated school fees, such as Kenya and Uganda, have witnessed skyrocketing school attendance. A rapid growth in.
