Mauritian minister urges govt to increase education funding

Mauritian minister urges govt to increase education funding

AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

KAMPALA. The Mauritian Minister for Higher Education, Science, Research and Technology Dr Rajesh Jeetah has asked the Ugandan government to increase funding to the education sector if the country is to achieve meaningful socio-economic transformation.

Dr Rajesh who is currently on a state visit to Uganda said Mauritius has made much strides in education because of the huge investments they have put in the sector.

“We have achieved a lot simply  because  the biggest portion of our budget goes on education and I urge Uganda to borrow a leaf from us,” he said during a press conference in Kampala  on Saturday .

He commended Uganda for introducing free education but urged authorities to put much emphasise on the quality of the students churned of schools.

“ We are also offering free education right from pre-primary to university but we take quality very seriously because without it ,the whole service becomes a nothing ,” he said adding “ that is the reason why our students are constituently ranked top in the world each year for the Cambridge International O’Level ,International A and AS Level examinations .” 

The minister at the weekend closed the two-day Kampala International Education Fair which was dominated by universities and colleges from Mauritius and also visited Green Hill Academy to get a feel of how teaching and learning is conducted in Uganda .

He said his government’s   funding for infrastructure had risen to 4.5 billion rupees (US$145.5 million) for both public and private institutions.

“Our major focus now is to see that every family has at least one graduate by 2015,” the minister said

In Uganda, education is one of the key funded sectors and its share of the national budget has been on an increase over the years .But due to a high growing population, the sector faces new challenges every year especially under the free education programme and analysts   say it will  take long to satisfactorily fund the sector  .This ending financial year (2012/13) the ministry received 1.669 trillion, down from Shs1.3trillion in 2011/12 fiscal year, representing  represent 17 percent of the total budget .

Ms Elizabeth Gabona, the commissioner for Higher Education said they have many lessons to learn from Mauritius because it has   registered significant progress in the sector.

“ We have much to learn from them especially on how they execute their programmes but they can also learn from the good education policies we have in place ,” she said

The government of Mauritius provides  free education to  its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary level. Since July 2005, the government introduced free transport for all students. Given its  low population of about 1.3million, foreign students  in Mauritius who study and successfully complete their studies get employment there . According to Dr Jeetah , his target is to see that 100,000 foreign students join Mauritius higher institutions of learning by 2020. Currently, 40,000 foreigners are working in Mauritius as expatriates, according to Dr Jeetah .

Mauritian minister urges govt to increase education funding

Mauritian minister urges govt to increase education funding

AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

KAMPALA. The Mauritian Minister for Higher Education, Science, Research and Technology Dr Rajesh Jeetah has asked the Ugandan government to increase funding to the education sector if the country is to achieve meaningful socio-economic transformation.

Dr Rajesh who is currently on a state visit to Uganda said Mauritius has made much strides in education because of the huge investments they have put in the sector.

“We have achieved a lot simply  because  the biggest portion of our budget goes on education and I urge Uganda to borrow a leaf from us,” he said during a press conference in Kampala  on Saturday .

He commended Uganda for introducing free education but urged authorities to put much emphasise on the quality of the students churned of schools.

“ We are also offering free education right from pre-primary to university but we take quality very seriously because without it ,the whole service becomes a nothing ,” he said adding “ that is the reason why our students are constituently ranked top in the world each year for the Cambridge International O’Level ,International A and AS Level examinations .” 

The minister at the weekend closed the two-day Kampala International Education Fair which was dominated by universities and colleges from Mauritius and also visited Green Hill Academy to get a feel of how teaching and learning is conducted in Uganda .

He said his government’s   funding for infrastructure had risen to 4.5 billion rupees (US$145.5 million) for both public and private institutions.

“Our major focus now is to see that every family has at least one graduate by 2015,” the minister said

In Uganda, education is one of the key funded sectors and its share of the national budget has been on an increase over the years .But due to a high growing population, the sector faces new challenges every year especially under the free education programme and analysts   say it will  take long to satisfactorily fund the sector  .This ending financial year (2012/13) the ministry received 1.669 trillion, down from Shs1.3trillion in 2011/12 fiscal year, representing  represent 17 percent of the total budget .

Ms Elizabeth Gabona, the commissioner for Higher Education said they have many lessons to learn from Mauritius because it has   registered significant progress in the sector.

“ We have much to learn from them especially on how they execute their programmes but they can also learn from the good education policies we have in place ,” she said

The government of Mauritius provides  free education to  its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary level. Since July 2005, the government introduced free transport for all students. Given its  low population of about 1.3million, foreign students  in Mauritius who study and successfully complete their studies get employment there . According to Dr Jeetah , his target is to see that 100,000 foreign students join Mauritius higher institutions of learning by 2020. Currently, 40,000 foreigners are working in Mauritius as expatriates, according to Dr Jeetah .

Planning Authority decries absence of a data resource centre

Planning Authority decries absence of a data resource centre

Al-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

KAMPALA. Uganda is still faced with poor planning because the country lacks a one -stop data resource centre from which information of sectors can be obtained  to inform appropriate planning, an official at National Planning Authority has said.

Dr Abel Rwendeire, the deputy chairman National Planning Authority, said lack of an open data initiative has also frustrated participatory planning and citizens’ involvement in budget processes.

Open data is a philosophy and practice requiring that certain data be freely available to everyone, without restrictions from copyright or government.

“When budgeting, the budget must be according to plans and plans depend on available data. Although we need a lot of data when planning, we fail to access it because it is scattered. This forces us to use statistics which are not appropriate,” Dr Rwendeire said

He was addressing an Africa Counts Roundtable Forum on Open Development that was organised by Development Research and Training (DRT) and Development Initiatives (DI) in Kampala last week.

The ‘Africa Counts’ round tables are multi-stakeholder forums designed to stimulate constructive dialogue amongst civil society, media, government and academia. The purpose is to influence the allocation of resources and ensure poverty eradication is prioritised in the East Africa region.

Dr Rwendeire gave an example of Uganda’s economy which depends on agriculture but the country lacks coherent data on the sector to help better planning and investment.

“Introducing an Open Data initiative in Uganda is long overdue,” he said adding, “As government, we have not been forthcoming in sharing information. I can understand in some cases the reluctance comes because of the sensitivity of information, but we must put information in the open space were all citizens can access it to participate in planning for the country,”

Margret Kakande, the director of Budget Monitoring and Accountability unit of the Ministry of Finance said the Open Data initiative is a powerful tool in empowering citizens to ask for accountability.

“People can’t demand when they don’t know,”she said.

Denial of access to information is a common practice in Uganda despite constitutional guarantees for the right to information and the adoption of an Access to Information Act in 2005. Government in 2011  signed into law new regulations for implementing the Act, stating procedures for citizens on how to access information from public offices but accessing such information it is still a problem due to the bureaucratic  system in government departments .

Article 41 of the Constitution also states that "Every citizen has a right to access information in the possession of the state or any other organ or agency of the state except where the release of the information is likely to prejudice the security or sovereignty of the state or interfere with the right to the privacy of any other person." 

Donors promise Shs219b boost to vocational training in schools

Donors promise  Shs219b  boost to  vocational training in schools
AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA
KAMPALA. Various donors have indicated willingness to fund the implementation of the newly introduced Skilling Uganda programme in the next financial year, Minister Jessica Alupo has said 
According to Ms Alupo ,the Organisation of Petroleum  Exporting Countries pledged to contribute $22.95m , Islamic Development Bank ( $27.91m) ,Saudi Fund for International Development ($11.998m) ,Kuwait Fund ($11.9m) and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa ($5m).When converted into Ugandan shillings , all donors will have contributed  about Shs 219billion .
Ms Alupo  said with this huge boost ,her ministry will endavour to increase funding to the new technical  examination board, increase unit costs for capitation grants ,scale up  the non formal training programmes and provide instructional materials to Uganda Technical Colleges for students to do real life projects as part of their exam requirements .
“ With the kind of support we have received, we need to address the critical issues in order to firmly entrench our efforts to transform Uganda into a country with a critical mass of skilled Ugandans” she said in an interview last week.
This is one the hugely funded education programmes the ministry has run the recent past .Government plans to spend atleast Shs2trillion to implement this 10 -year Skilling Uganda programme and on average Shs 200billion will be injected in the programme annually.
Vocational education has potential to curb unemployment in the country but it has been one of the least funded programmes over the years .For those who view vocational education as an education pathway for failures, the minister said they will soon launch a nation-wide campaign to sensitise masses  about skills training programmes
“ We need this attitudinal change badly and very soon we shall start a campaign to massage the minds of parents and students to bring about attitudinal changes to value technical and vocational education .” she added
Under Skilling Uganda programmes, learning will be designed with short courses for senior four leavers, school drop-outs and graduates, leading to the award of qualifications equivalent to those in formal system of education. All these will be enrolled at various levels in the new skills development system of education.
This implies that any learner will be able to graduate with a diploma, bachelors or Masters by attaining a systematic stage of qualifications in skills attainment under the revised education plan. There will be a special examination body to assess whoever will be attending these short courses. Learners will not be assessed on what they can do and not what they can recall as it is nowadays.

 Such huge sums of donor money have come at a time when education ministry is in the spotlight over claims of gross misappropriation of funds and making policies that have failed to turn around the sector.

A recent judicial commission of inquiry report into the misuse of free education funds recommended that Mr Francis Lubanga and several commissioners be investigated over abuse of office and financial mismanagement and it is estimated that government loses Shs329b annually as a result of shoddy construction work.

Education is one of the major funded sectors and this fiscal year it received 17 percent of the entire national budget. However, there have been consistent reports of graft in the sector and shoddy work in the infrastructure projects leading huge loss of tax payer’s money.

The share of Uganda’s national budget to education has been on an increase since 1990 when it rose from 13.7 percent to 24.7 percent by 1998 (the first year after UPE   was started). But officials in the ministry say the money is still little compared to the emerging challenges for the sector. This financial year (2012/13), the ministry received 1.669 trillion, down from Shs1.3trillion in 2011/12 fiscal year- representing 17 percent of the total budget.

Govt warns schools over donated tractors

Govt warns schools over donated tractors

 Al-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

KAMPALA. Education minister Jessica Alupo has warned schools which are yet to benefit for the government school tractor programme not to hire them out but use them to promote teaching and practicing of agriculture in schools.

A total of 27 secondary schools with large   acreage of land  will benefit from the programme and three of them including;  Teso College Aloet ,Ngora High School ,Usuk SS their tractors were handed over to the school administrators  by President Museveni during his visit to Soroti  last week .

According to education minister Ms Jessica Alupo ,  each school will get an agricultural  tractor worth Shs75mllion complete with a three-disc plough ,  a  lawn mower , a rotary lasher and a trailer .

She said the intervention is geared towards encouraging schools grown their own food and ably feed the students.

“Many schools sit on huge acreage of land but are doing nothing on it yet they need food. So ,we want them to get these tractors so that they can sustainably provide food from using their land, provide students with practical training and skills in modern agricultural practices ,develop forests to provide timber and firewood and also improve the environment   ,” she said in an interview last week .

Many schools, especially those built during the colonial time, possess large acreage of idle land and some have been occupied by squatters. For instance, Teso College has 400 acres of land .This new programme may sound as a great opportunity for schools with large acreage of land to carry out agricultural activities.

SCHOOLS TO BENEFIT FROM  GOVERNMENT SCHOOL TRACTOR PRORGAMME
Bukedi College Kachonga
Busoga College ,Mwiri
Dr Obote College Boroboro
Gombe SS
Ibanda SS
Kyebambe SS
Kyezimbire SS
Lumino High School
Mvara SS
Nabumali High School
St Leo's College,Kyegobe
St Aloysius Nyapea ,
St Joseph Colleg, Layibi
St Joseph's College,Ombachi
St Peters College Tororo
Bweranyangi Girls
Dokolo Technical School
Kabasanda Technical Institute
Sebei College,Tegeres
Koome Island Seed SS
Kasese SS
Mityana SS
Muntuyera High School

Teachers Scheme of Service to delay –Govt

Teachers Scheme of Service to delay –Govt

AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

KAMPALA.Teachers in public schools will have to wait for a little longer to benefit from the teacher service of scheme after government announced that the programme will not implemented this financial year citing financial constraints.

Speaking to Daily Monitor yesterday, the assistant Commissioner Secondary Education, Mr Francis Agula said they are currently focusing on ensuring that more teachers access the payroll.

Currently, Uganda has only 160,000 teachers on the government payroll of which 135,000 are in primary schools.

 “The teachers scheme of service was supposed to start this ending financial year but since free A’level education was introduced at the same time, much of the funds went on recruitment of new teachers,” he said adding “But it is in our activity plan as a ministry and if funds are available we shall roll it out next financial year because we know failure to do that will further demoralise our  teachers.” 

Last year, government had promised to put aside Shs40billion to kick start the scheme.

However, despite putting much focus on recruitment of teachers, Mr Agula said they had also failed to hit the 5000 target under the Universal Post O’Level Education and Training programme introduced last year.

“We still have only 1000 (teachers) who were recruited last year and even though  the programme  has entered  its second year with increased enrollment  ,we can’t do much due to limited funding,” he said

Government has since 2010 been planning to introduce the teachers  scheme of service to enable classroom teachers who have furthered their education and acquired higher qualification get promotions .

This means, if the scheme is rolled out teachers with higher academic credentials will be put at higher salary scales than their colleagues with lower qualifications. Teachers who have invested in upgrading have always complained that their salaries are pegged to the levels at which they teach and not their qualifications.

A total of 4000 proposed beneficiaries are in primary schools and another 1000 in secondary schools will benefit.

Lack of career advancement opportunities has been one of the major complaints among Ugandan teachers for several decades. The scheme of service was drafted in 2005 by the Education Service Commission but has since failed to take off . If implemented, the promotions will depend on the number of years one has worked as well as their academic qualifications. Under the  proposal, a primary school teacher, who possesses  a Grade Three teaching certificate, would be called an Education Assistant (EA) and the lowest paid with a salary scale of U-7. 

Seniority  will  push one to the rank of Senior Education Assistant (SEA), and later to Principle Education Assistant (PEA). 

At the secondary level, Grade Five teachers would be designated as Assistant Education Officers (AEO) while graduate teachers  will be  Education Officers (EO), earning the same salary as their counterparts in primary.  

Experience and a Master’s degree will push one to the rank of Senior Education Officer (SEO), then Principal Education Officer (PEO), putting one at  the same salary scale as a deputy or head teacher.