Kampala — PARENTS, not the Government, are to blame for the declining education standards, the education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, has said.

She blasted critics who blame the ministry for the dwindling quality of education, attributing the problem to poor feeding among children.

"We started Universal Primary Education about 15 years ago.

"But if you do not feed your child well, why do you blame the teacher for the child's poor performance?" she asked.

The minister was speaking at the opening of a course on hunger sponsored by the World Food Programme at Makerere University on Monday.

Since the Government introduced free primary education in 1997, enrolment has almost tripled, but performance has been declining over the years.

Last year, 89,306 pupils across the country failed the final primary examination and had to repeat.