‘Universal secondary education still far’

By John Eremu THOSE hoping for Universal Secondary Education in the near future should be prepared for a long wait. Education and sports minister Kiddu Makubuya said the scheme can only materialise if Uganda quadrupled the current level of revenue collection.“If we could collect sh4,000b per year, we would be in a position to provide universal secondary education,” Makubuya told a press conference on Friday at the end of the education sector review workshop in Kampala.Uganda currently collects about sh1,000b in taxes annually. The scheme could therefore be effected if each of the 22 million Ugandans, irrespective of age, paid at least sh180,000 every year.Makubuya said the Government’s strategy was to bring down school fees to make secondary education affordable to as many children as possible. “Government will construct a large day secondary school in every sub-county and introduce a bursary scheme for brilliant but poor children,” Makubuya said.The head of the European Union delegation, Sigurd Illing, who spoke on behalf of the Education Funding Agencies Group (IFAG), addressed the conference. The donors suggested that textbooks be issued directly to pupils at the beginning of every school term.