EDUCATION | RECOVERY | MRS MUSEVENI

KAMPALA - The Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Museveni, also the First Lady has called for support of the education sector for its recovery. 

In her message, the Minister urged all organisations and institutions that play a role in the education value chain to explore ways of supporting the recovery efforts of the sector. 

She said that key stakeholders and partners must come together to share ideas and mobilise resources to support education recovery for improved access and quality, in the face of the additional challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs. Janet Museveni was delivering a keynote address during an Education Symposium that she hosted at State House Entebbe on Thursday (November 25, 2021). 

It was attended by Ministers, Ambassadors, Partners in development, representatives of the Business Community in Uganda and Senior officers from the Education, Finance, Health and ICT Ministries and Government Agencies.

“We are here to seek solutions to the direct and indirect effects and challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector,” explained Mrs Museveni.

She said that the closure of schools for nearly two years has had a serious effect on the education sector and the economy in general, and drew the attention of stakeholders to the urgent need of ensuring that schools can reopen safely and sustainably come January 2022, and ensuring their resilience in the post-COVID-19 period. 

She pointed out that educational institutions require support to repair and renovate the infrastructure given the state some schools are in after a prolonged period of closure, and that they need equipment for implementation of the SOPs. 

The schools also need support to create and maintain child-friendly learning environments and to provide psychosocial support to learners. 

Mrs Museveni reported that Government has committed resources, under the education sector budget, to continue supporting Government and Government-aided schools with capitation grants and staff salaries. 

She also said that the Ministry of Education and Sports, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will continue with the dissemination of the COVID-19 SOPs for education institutions and school-based COVID surveillance plans for school managers and teachers in both private and public institutions.

She added that Government has put in place measures to support teachers including a grant of sh20b extended to private schools teachers through the Micro Finance Support Centre and opportunity was given to the private school owners to access loans from Uganda Development Bank. 

The contribution of employees and employers to NSSF was waived off for a specific period and payment of Pay As You Earn was also deferred.

Education Institutions with outstanding loans were advised to approach their respective banks to reschedule their loans and vaccination of teachers, non-teaching staff and students above 18 in education institutions has been prioritised.

Mrs. Museveni, who reiterated that provision of education is a shared responsibility between the state, the parents, and the community in general, thanked the International Education Partners in Development, the Corporate citizens and Non-Governmental Organizations for always supporting to address the challenges in the Education sector. 

She said that Uganda is looking forward to a time when it will be able to balance its budget and deal with all issues of service delivery to its people and we really can’t wait for that time. 

“We want to see Uganda’s schools change to better environments and if we have people like the private sector and other agencies willing to work with us, we will continue to improve the schools until everybody will be proud to have their children in our schools”, she said.

According to a problem statement presented by Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the Director Education Standards, interventions that require urgent support as schools reopen include;

Engaging learners in accelerated learning to help them recover the lost time, expanding the seating capacity to accommodate the large numbers of learners that has accrued from three years of non-study, construction of more facilities in schools and procurement of tents to temporarily house the learners. 

There is also need to support the digital education agenda, provide permanent water sources in all schools and education institutions, provision of psycho-socio support and re-orientation for teachers, guidance and counselling for both learners and parents, and support to private educational institutions by waiving off interest on their outstanding loans and provision of start-up capital to enable them regain their businesses.

Overall, sh500b is required to cater for the interventions over the medium term and an estimate of sh150b is required in the immediate term.

The participants at the Education Symposium responded positively to the First Lady’s call to support the recovery of education in Uganda by making generous pledges both in cash and in-kind.

The Symposium, which was the first of its kind, was attended by the Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija, Dr. JC Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education and Dr Joyce Moriku Kaducu (Primary Education).

Also in attendance was Permanent Secretaries, Ketty Lamaro (Education and Sports), Dr. Diana Atwine (Health) and Patrick Ocailap (Finance). 

Also present was Ambassador of Ireland H.E Kevin Colgan and H.E Jules Armand Aniambossou, the Ambassador of France. 

Others included representatives from UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCO, USAID, Bank of Uganda, Uganda Manufacturers Association, Private Sector Foundation of Uganda and Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors of UCC, URA, NITA-U, UMEME, NWSC, Stanbic Bank, Bank of Africa, Equity Bank, EFC, Airtel, Roofings Group, Ham Group, SCOUL, Kakira Sugar Works, Fountain Publishers, MK Publishers, LongHorn Publishers, New Vision, Cooper Motors Cooperation, Sanlam Life Insurance, World Vision, Harris International and Route Skilling Young Adults Uganda.