By Janet Museveni
MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND SPORTS
EDUCATION: The Government of Uganda managed to construct a total of 132 Seed Secondary Schools particularly in sub-counties and divisions without a public secondary school during the period 2016- 2021. Government has also aided 182 community secondary schools.
All these details are captured in a report detailing what the NRM Government managed to deliver under the education sector in line with the 2016-2021 manifesto. All the Seed Schools being constructed with effect from FY 2018/19 have comprehensive and complete infrastructure that includes: a 400-seater multi-purpose Hall; staff houses for 06 teachers (including the Head Teacher); an ICT Laboratory and a Library; and 6 Classrooms and Science Labs.
As if that is not enough, an additional 115 new Seed Secondary Schools shall be constructed starting in this FY 2020/2021 under Inter-governmental Fiscal Transfers Program (UgIFT) and 100 under the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP). The 115 secondary schools include the 60 schools to be expanded in areas hosting refugees. In the period under review, the government was also able to provide secondary schools with instructional materials that included 5,250 textbooks for S.1 and S.2 Chemistry, Physics, and Biology subjects in the 20 Secondary Schools grant-aided. A total of 17,167 Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology textbooks for 242 A-Level schools were also procured for the same purpose.
The last 5 five years also saw recruitment of 8,300 new additional teachers for Secondary Schools and there is ongoing recruitment of more 2,000 teachers already advertised by the Education Service Commission in FY 2019/20. 1200 teachers were also promoted after upgrading from Diploma to Graduate qualifications.
Under the same period (2016-2021), the government also managed to roll out a revised O-Level Curriculum and as well reduced the subject menu from 44 to 21 subjects. “Continuous Assessment scores will account for 20 percent of the learner’s score while summative work will account for 80 percent of the final score at the end of the cycle (O-Level national examinations),” the report observes.
The students’ enrollment at secondary level also increased from 1.46 million to 1.95 million students between 2016 and 2021.
PRE-PRIMARY AND PRIMARY
In the last Kisanja, Pupils enrollment at Pre-primary level increased by 1.49 million—that is from 564,033 in 2017 to 2.05 in 2019. For primary, the number increased from 8.84 million to 10.78 million. More so, in regard to the policy of establishing at least one public primary school per parish the government built additional 929 classrooms in 145 primary schools that previously had less than three permanent classrooms; constructed nine semi-detached teachers’ houses in nine schools in the hard-to-reach district of Bukwo. Government also constructed six semi-detached staff houses at six primary teachers’ colleges; namely Shimoni, Erepi, Kisoro, Ibanda, Rukungiri and Ngora. To address the plight of teachers, the government also considered it prudent to increase the monthly salary of a Primary School Teacher Shs 119,684 (from Shs 380,000 in 2016 to Shs499,684 as of May 2020).
Shs14.53 billion and Shs14.44 billion in FY 2018/19 and FY 2019/20 respectively was also spent on providing instructional and scholastic materials in Primary Schools.
“To-date 103 districts are implementing the Early Grade Reading Methodology. More than 14,790 P.1 to P.4 teachers and 1,150 Pre-service tutors have been trained in Early Grade Reading methodologies,” the report further highlights.
BTVET
In the last 5 years, enrolment in Tertiary institutions increased from 147,743 to 186,383. Additionally, the government also established 133 government aided BTVET Institutions of which; six are technical colleges and centres of excellence, Seventy-three are technical Institutes, Twenty-nine are community polytechnics and Twenty-five technical farm schools. Some of those constructed include Uganda Petroleum Institute, Kigumba. Government successfully completed the construction of 11 staff houses and classroom blocks for education institutions in Adjumani, Moyo, Katakwi, Ngora, Alebtong and Karamoja sub-region. Four regional institutions for PWDs namely; Salama P.S, Mbale S.S, Wakiso S.S and Lalo P.S were also revamped during the period under review.
To ensure all round graduates, all curriculum for Oil and Gas course modules are now internationally accredited to ensure that the learners who come out of our institutions meet minimum international standards. Under BTVET assessment, the curricula have now all become competence-based; implying that 70% of the learner’s time is focused on acquisition of practical skills required in the world-of-work. A case which was not before, the private sector is now deliberately involved in designing and developing our curricula in order to ensure that learners are trained in trades and skills that are relevant in the world of work.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Enrollment in degree awarding institutions has however declined from 186, 412 to 125,173. Instead of going to Universities, S.4 and S.6 finalists are now opting for BTVET courses first and can upgrade later, according to pundits who explained the likely cause of this decline. Government in the last five years also embarked on supporting training in courses whose graduates are currently needed by the local job market, and, as, a result, 75 percent of the 4,000 government-sponsored students annually is towards Science-based courses. “We have 8,700 Graduates in 2,800 Health and Medical Personnel; 2,000 Science Teachers; 900 Agricultural Experts; and, 3,000 Engineers through the Higher Education Loans Scheme,” the report stresses.
In the last five years, the government also embarked on rehabilitation of eight Public Universities. As a result Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) received a Library Block, laboratory block, a business Incubation Centre in gorilla trekking, and a students’ hostel. A new Teaching Hospital was built at Lira University. A new building to house the Faculty of Business Computing was erected at Makerere University Business School.
Busitema University received the Library Block in addition to a multi-function Block, had one workshop renovated, and a new multi-purpose Laboratory at Nagongera.
The additional new facilities established at Gulu University included a Library Block, multi-purpose Laboratory Block, and a Business incubation Centre for Cassava.
At Kyambogo University, eight workshops were renovated, and a new multi-purpose laboratory, multi-function library, a Centralized Teaching Facility, and two Engineering Blocks built.
At Muni University, a Health Science/ Multi-function Block was constructed on top of a Utility Block it had requested for. At Uganda Management Institute (UMI), the government completed office and lecture blocks. At Makerere University, two Central Teaching Facilities, a Laboratory and Incubation Centre for dairy value-chain were built in addition to renovation of 08 laboratories as part of expansion of 08 public universities. A Research and Incubation Facility was also set up at Kabanyolo under Makerere University.
Under the development and commercialization of innovations initiative, in the 2016-2021 NRM Government, an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Business Centre was set up at MUBS; and a Business Incubation Centre for Gorilla trekking and lodging camp at Buhoma in Kanungu District from MUST. There is also a Dairy Value Chain at Makerere, Cassava Processing Cottage at Gulu, an IT Research Lab and Technology Support Centre University at Muni University, a Management Consultancy at UMI and Technology and Business and Innovation Workshop at Busitema University. Soroti University was established and its first intake was in 2019.
BOTTLE NECKS
High population growth rates leading to high Pupil/Student Classroom Ratios; inadequate resources amidst spending pressures and low community participation and teacher absenteeism are some of the challenges affecting the education sector, according to the ministry bosses.