What should Museveni deliver for education sector in the next five years?

UGANDAN EDUCATION

It is a Monday morning and all streets in Kampala city are streaming with children on foot, bikes and in vehicles. It is school time. In villages, the story is equally replayed, probably a bit less, with some barefooted and at times non-uniformed pupils also dashing to school.

Some of the adults who are also dashing to their offices, gardens and businesses this morning, were one time like these innocent pupils.

This is a just a complete story of the National Resistance Movement's 30 years of education in the country. But most importantly since President Yoweri Museveni is in the final stages of constituting his Government, what are expectations from him in the next five years.

The NRM Government has made tremendous achievements, without obviously forgetting hitches, some of which remain unsolved, in the education sector.

Its major change came with the liberalisation of education and introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE). More so, the introduction of private students in public universities, free higher and technical education and now Student Loan Scheme; broadly define this Government's size of the education basket to the nation.

But, it has not been all rosy. Ugandans have over years raised concerns about the education sector, some of which Government is set out to resolve in the next five years.

What Ugandans want

A countrywide opinion poll of voting-age Ugandans conducted by New Vision in June last year showed that about 3.7 million voters consider education as the main challenge in their lives.

In particular, the voters also raised concern about low salaries for teachers, poor school facilities, inadequate primary and secondary schools and long distances from home to the available schools.

The other concerns raised were the high school drop-outs, high levels of illiteracy, poor accommodation for teachers, lack of feeding for pupils and the poor attitude of students towards studying. Almost 80% of the pupils, who start Primary One, never make it to Primary Seven; and girls are most affected than boys.

Corruption and low funding, like in so many other sectors, was also one of the concerns for voters. The other concerns were lack of career guidance and insecurity in schools.

Results of the 2015 New Vision poll are consistent with a 2011 poll by the New Vision, as well as the 2012 Afrobarometer survey. All the polls rank education among the top priority issues the voters want political leaders to pay attention to.

The rankings of key concerns in education in this year's poll, varied between the regions. In the central and northern regions for instance, the most pressing issue was high tuition fees.

In eastern, western and north eastern Uganda, the voters were more concerned about the few, redundant or no teachers and continuous strikes. Poor curriculum, cheating of exams and high unemployment rate were the main issues for voters in the West Nile region.

The education sector was given sh2.7trillion in the sh26trillion 2016/17 National Budget read by finance minister Matia Kasaija on Wednesday. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

Primary, secondary, vocational education

Ugandans still have serious concerns for the education sector. But, there are major stride and plans for the country, by the Government in the next five years.

The pre-primary sub-sector, enrolment has now increased from 289,862 pupils in 2011 to over 457,186 today, according to the 2015 Education ministry Education Sector Review Report. More so, enrolment in the primary sub-sector also registered an increment from 8.09 million pupils in 2011 to about 8.5 million pupils today.

The enrolment in secondary schools has also stepped up from 689,541 students to 806,992 students in 2013 to 873,476 by last year.

But that is still not good enough, according to voters.  "Our children in school are still not learning!" says Micheal Musiitwa, a father working in Masaka, with a son in Soroti SS. Musiitwa's other son is at Okunguro Primary School, but he feels the boy is not being taught well.

Solome Anita, a mother of four pupils studying UPE schools says, "We credit the Government for several achievements in the education sector. But most of the problems which affect us, the poor, are persistent."

Martha Namukisa, a mother of six children at Kakumiro public primary school in Kibaale district says that, "When we voted our leaders into various offices in 2011, we expected quick changes in education. Some were attained, but we are still frustrated by some issues that are still nagging our education system."

She quickly adds, "But we hope that some of our concerns, especially on quality and the burden of high school fees will be resolved in the next five years of the mandate we have given this Government."

Studies done by Uwezo, a regional non-government education organisation, confirm Musiitwa and Namukisa's worries.

Uwezo is an organization that tracks education issues in East Africa. A 2015 study by Uwezo in Uganda shows that only one in 10 Primary Three children the group assessed was able to read and comprehend a Primary Two level story and correctly solve Primary Two level division. By the time these pupils completed Primary Seven, only 7 out of 10 children had attained their basic competences.

During a recent immersion exercise on the outskirts of Soroti town, a pupil, Micheal Otim, told their team which included journalists that he never concentrates in class because he is always hungry during the afternoon. Otim also complained about inadequate teachers at his school. As is the case all over the country, lunch and inadequate teachers is a common serious problem.

It probably partly explains the bad academic performance of this boy and many other UPE schools in the country.

The Education Act notes that it is the responsibility of parents to provide lunch to their children according to the law-the Education Act.

In most instances, schools are also never inspected and this affects the quality of education.

Meanwhile, children are still walking long distances from their homes to school, since there are no good schools in their vicinity.

Voters are also concerned about corruption, insecure schools and dangerous structures of buildings in schools. "If only Government funds were not being swindled in public schools, we would be better off," said 71-year old Samson Mugambe in Masaka.

But all is not lost. In the next five years, according to the NRM Manifesto for 2016-2021, the Government plans to have a primary school per parish to reduce on the average walking distances to school for pupils and further bring education nearer to the population. More so, a government secondary school will be set up, in every sub-county.

The manifesto also shows that "More model secondary schools will be built around the country."

More classrooms will also be constructed to meet the targets of 50:1 pupil to teacher ratio.

Government plans to have a semi-autonomous body to establish a semi-autonomous body in charge of inspecting schools; other than keeping it as a department in the education ministry structure. The new body will have powers to compel district officials to take action on its reports and if they fail, Government will act on them.

The other move to be undertaken, according to the education State minister Dr. John Muyingo, will be to introduce, "Continuous assessment examination system at primary education level and integrating the results in the final marks."

He adds that, "We will also increase community participation in the affairs of the schools in their respective areas and report problems to Resident District Commissioners.

The new manifesto, also wants to put emphasis on parents provide lunch for their children at school, and re-emphasises that, "It's illegal to send away pupils whose parents haven't paid contributions agreed upon at school. We will continue sensitising parents on feeding their children and providing uniforms."

The Government also plans to increase the budget allocation to text books and scholastic materials.

The ministry's permanent Secretary Dr. Rose Nassali also says that there will be a reduction in the school drop-outs. The Government also plans to work with women councils, community development officers and sub-county chiefs. "We will sensitise the parents on the dangers of marrying off girls when they are still young."

It also adds that, "Every head teacher will be required to report to police any girl who has dropped out of school as a result of being married off or having been made pregnant."

Government wants to also crack the whip on whoever marries off under-age girls or impregnates them.

Government, for the first time in its 30 years of existence, also promised to provide free scholastic materials such as mathematical geometry sets, exercise books, pens and pencils.

Teachers' plight

In the voters Manifesto, the teachers' plight came out so prominently.

Jaliat Yawa, the head teacher Bukoto Muslim primary school says that at times the workload for teachers in schools is just intolerable.

 "The teachers are not enough. This forces the few available ones to teach the subjects they are not supposed to teach. My school has 208 pupils, but I was offered only eight teachers! This is not realistic!" she explains. But is just one of the lucky few schools. In some schools, the pupil to teacher ratio is even higher.

Official reports from the ministry indicate that the sector currently has a total of 131,000 teachers in primary schools attributing to a pupil to teacher ratio of 54:1 as compared to the desired 139,000 for a ratio of 45:1(pupil to teacher ratio).

 "Most of our teachers are underpaid, a reason why they do not get committed to their jobs like those in private schools," explains Simon Musiitwa, a shopkeeper in Kakumiro trading centre in Kibaale.

More so, the Annual Education Sector Performance Report, there is unacceptably high head teacher and teachers' absenteeism estimated at 20%.

Apart from the low pay, there is high teacher abseentism in schools. Uwezo also notes that one out of every 10 teachers, "Was absent from school on the day of their assessment in 2014." Uwezo also argues that the high prevalence of teachers' absenteeism has led to poor performance in UPE schools.

Similarly, the 2014 World Bank report has found that in public schools, "Roughly 1 in 4 (27%) teachers was absent from school; and of those present in school, 1 in 3 was not teaching. As a result, 40% of public school classrooms did not have a teacher in the classroom."

To resolve some of these issues, the Government in the last two financial years has put up a fund for teachers to borrow money for investment at a lower market interest rate, to beef up their salaries.

More so, Government in the new manifesto has committed itself to continue constructing more teachers' houses, to improve their welfare.

The manifesto reads that, "We will start with houses for head teachers and senior women teachers before gradually spreading out to cover other teaching staff. In the meantime, Local Governments will be advised to post teachers near their homes, where possible so that they stay in their private homes and are not burdened with rent as we increase the stock of teachers' houses."

The Government offer free sanitary pads to address the school dropout rate of girls.

Higher education (varsities, institutes)

Much as the issue of higher education was not a strong concern for voters, the fact is that there is much that still has to be done.

The Government has paid special attention to business, technical and vocational education and training (BTVET) as part of the solutions for filling the technician level skills gaps in the economy and as a solution for skilling school leavers, graduates and unemployed youth.

To-date 90 districts have at least one BTVET institution, which is gradually being equipped to provide quality training.

There has been increased access to BTVET at post-primary school, post-lower and upper secondary school and for university graduates by constructing and rehabilitating vocational and technical institutes.

More new 20 new BTVET institutions have been constructed between 2011 and 2015 at regional and district levels in addition to rehabilitating most of the existing ones. Today, in 70 districts there is one technical school.

There is also the increase in the variety of courses and the corresponding surge in students enrolments from 23,536 in 2010 to about 40,000 as of 2015; increase of over 40%.

More so, Government plans to increase capitation grants to institutions.

As plans for the next five years, the education minister Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Alupo says that Government plans to ensure that  says there is increased, "International certification, particularly in such areas as oil, gas, industrial machinery, transport and other technicians' certification."

Government will also focus on establishing a Skills Development Agency, and creating regional centres of excellence.

Like other subsectors, Government plans to step up university education. The total enrolment to other tertiary institutions increased from 55,343 in 2011 to 58,401 in 2015.

But the high tuition in private universities, endless strikes in public universities, low pay for dons and inadequate funds for research; are still bogging down the country's university education. Congestion in public university is the other straining factor of higher education.

Government also enacted and implemented the Student Loan Scheme where a total of 1,201 students from 108 districts were selected as the maiden beneficiaries of higher education financing. This number is expected to be tripled in the next financial year.

Government also plans to rehabilitate, expand and equip lecture rooms at public universities and other tertiary institutions, to cater for the increasing numbers of students.

Government also plans to operationalise Soroti University. This will bring the number of public universities to seven, an indication of the Government's commitment to providing university education to the people.

Apart from Soroti University, there are plans in the next five years to starts a Constituent College of Busitema University in Karamoja.

Plans are also underway in the next five years, to support public and private universities to grow but also improve their research.

The National Council for Higher Education will also be strengthened and empowered through increased funding and staffing.

Way to go

As the students' enrolment grows in the country, more questions especially about the Government's capacity to provide sufficient teaching and learning facilities for these numbers abound.

The former commissioner in-charge of Government-aided secondary schools John Agaba says that there is, "There is hope that the Government can overcome setbacks in the sector, as long as there is enough funding and commitment from the technical staff."

Meanwhile, Patrick Kaboyo, the head of the association of private school headteachers says that the quality of education in the country can only be improved, "With the support of everyone."  "Let us stop the blame game," he says.

Dr. Nassali Lukwago says, "The new manifesto will surely set a new dawn for the education sector. We have the commitment to improve the quality of education. We are determined on improving the country's quality of education."