39 percent of schools in Kla, Wakiso operate illegally –Survey

39 percent of schools in Kla, Wakiso operate illegally  –Survey

KAMPALA. A new school survey in Kampala and Wakiso districts by Agile Learning Company (ALC) has revealed that total of 1567 schools; representing 39 percent of the existing schools are not captured in the Ministry of Education database.

This implies that such schools are operating illegally.

The ministry of education commissioned the ALC, a pre- eminent  provider of ICT solutions  to carry out the survey in July as part of the a pilot project to map all schools using global positioning system (GPS) technology embedded in smart phones. The project is being by the ministry to address the phenomenon of ghost schools, pupils and teachers.

According to the survey, out of the 1567 schools, 1,246 are in Wakiso(56 percent) while 321 in Kampala.

“ In Wakiso District ,results indicate that a total of 1,246(i.e 712 pre-primary ,439 primary and 95 secondary schools are operational but not yet captured in the EMIS database. Out of the 439 schools, 17 are government aided ,” the 71-page report reads in part.

Enumerators from ALC had anticipated to find 2,753  schools as captured in the existing Ministry of Education Information Management System database 2013 ,but were shocked to find an additional 1694 schools ,bringing the total number of educational institutions in both areas  to 4330 . Paradoxically, out of the official schools (2753) ,a total of 92 schools ,69 of which in Kampala, were not found on the ground .

“The exercise failed to obtain information from the district and local officials as to whether these schools were once in existence, closed or relocated.” adds the report

Of these (4330)  ,127 private schools refused to be mapped  administrators  were not available to provide the requisite data while others were closed.

The school mapping exercise also discovered inconstancies in the naming of schools, with some school names slightly different from those they submitted to government. Another 118 schools had changed their administrative locations –making it hard to be traced.

Mr Arnold Dhatumwa , the commissioner Education Planning and Policy Analysis said the problem has been exacerbated   by mushrooming private schools that want to operate  before fulfilling the necessary procedures  set by government .He said by revealing the survey findings, the ministry had done her part and it is now the local authorities in Kampala and Wakiso to play their part.

“Most of these  are private schools .They are really hostile, they don’t want to be monitored because they know they are giving a raw deal to the public,” he said ,adding “The onus is now on the authorities in Kampala and Wakiso to crack the whip and address this problem internally,” he said

Currently, there are at least 20,000 private schools across the country. Despite charging high fees, most parents prefer taking their children to private schools ostensibly because they offer high quality services as compared to government-aided schools.

Mr Asadu Kirabira, the in charge of Research at National Private Education Institutions Association blamed the existence of illegal schools on the bureaucracy involved in licensing and registration of private schools.

“No one wants to operate illegally but they are just forced by the prevailing circumstances, “he said by telephone yesterday

“One can apply for a license and takes a year or two to get it .What do you expect that person to do?” he asked

On schools that shunned the mapping exercise, Kirabira said government failed to involve them in the exercise yet they have a complete register of all private schools in the country and their locations.

In 2011,the Auditor General’s office unearthed about 500 non-existent schools which were being planted in the Ministry of Education’s data base and were receiving money ,causing losses to government .In Amuru District alone, it was discovered that  government was losing  at least Shs71.4million per term to 15,539 ghost UPE pupils .