Why quota admissions system is under review

 

Plans to change allocation of government sponsorships in public universities under the quota system are in their final stages.

 

According to the education ministry, Cabinet will soon sit to take a decision on the new changes to be implemented by local governments and the ministry of education.

 

There are fi ve proposals, among which Cabinet will choose one option to implement.

 

Information reaching Mwalimu indicates that this will affect students joining public universities mid this year.

 

Every academic year, 896 students are admitted to public universities on Government sponsorship under the district quota system. Under the current system, all districts take an equal share of the available slots. The quota system scholarships take care of bright but underprivileged students who would otherwise be left out on the merit or general admission scheme.

 

But lately the district quota system has attracted criticism.

 

The critics argue that the government sponsorship is not reaching the intended beneficiaries. The Government reserves 75% of the 4,000 government scholarships, translating into 3,000 places for programmes critical to national development.

 

Of the remaining 25% (1,000 slots), 896 slots go to the district quota system; 40 to talented sports persons; and 64 to students with special needs.

The district quota system started in 2005/2006 to address the inequitable access to university education by students from various districts. This was because the selection of students to be sponsored by the Government was primarily based on academic merit.

 

The system ended up benefiting mostly students from well-to-do urban families who, by virtue of their financial and social stand, could access good schools, with better facilities like labs and well-trained teachers right from nursery up through high school.

 

These stood a better chance of passing with good grades and be admitted on government sponsorship. Rural bright students could not compete favourably with their urban counterparts because they lacked facilities.

 

The education and sports ministry was tasked to develop a system that would take care of the eligible candidates from all the districts.

 

It was also supposed to target programmes critical to national development and social transformation with emphasis on science and technology. President Yoweri Museveni directed the prime minister to coordinate the relevant ministries.

 

In the first proposal, Government sponsorship under the quota system will be given on the basis of the population of the respective districts. In this case, districts with a high population will get more slots under the quota system. This is computed as estimated population of the district, divided by the national population, and later multiplied by 896.

 

In the second proposal, districts with a high enrollment in secondary get more slots under the quota system. Allocation of scholarships would, in this case, be based on the enrollment in secondary (S.1 to S.6) of the district. This would be computed as enrollment of secondary in the district, divided by the national enrollment in secondary and then multiplied by 896.

 

The third option is having districts with the highest total enrollment in primary and secondary being offered more slots under the quota. This is computed as enrollment under basic education in the district, divided by the national enrollment and multiplied by 896.

 

As a fourth alternative, all districts will get the same number of students under the quota system. This is the system that has been used over years, which has attracted widespread criticism, as less privileged students, however bright, were always left out.

 

The other alternative being proposed is having the districts with high numbers of students on merit contributing less, or no single student on the quota system. In this case, qualified students (with at least two principal passes) that did not make it on merit admissions, with a bias to districts that contributed less to the merit based intake, will be considered.

 

This would imply that districts like Bushenyi, Mbarara, Kampala, Wakiso, Mpigi, and Masaka be excluded from the quota system since they take up almost all the merit admission slots in public universities annually.

 

President Museveni has, on many occasions, advocated the fi rst alternative, where the quota system allocations are based on the district population. However, according to sources, the fi nal resolution will be taken by Cabinet, and announced for implementation by all local governments, before the beginning of the next universities’ academic year. Jessica Alupo, the education minister, says the ministry is working on affirmative action for some areas that need to be helped to access university education.

 

“It will soon be discussed. By the time public universities begin admissions, I hope a decision will already have been taken,” she added.

 

Some of the districts have been getting a raw deal, under the quota system.

 

For instance, looking at the estimated admissions, out of the 1,535 candidates who qualified to join the university in Buikwe district, only one was admitted on merit. Other districts which had only one candidate included Buhweju, Bukomansimbi, Gomba, Buyende, Kalungu, Kiboga, Kibuku, Kole, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, Moroto, Napak, Namutumba, Ngora, Rubirizi, Serere and Sheema. But such districts still compete with giants which swallow up the merit admission slots; taking equal share of the quota system.

 

These include Wakiso with about 226 students admitted last year on merit, Bushenyi (110), Kampala (296), Masaka (155), Mbarara (70) Mukono (109), Mpigi (83), and Kabale (79).