Schools petition govt over delayed USE funds
May 07, 2009
HEAD teachers of schools under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) scheme have complained to the Government over the delay by the finance ministry to release funds.
By Conan Businge
HEAD teachers of schools under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) scheme have complained to the Government over the delay by the finance ministry to release funds.
Through the Uganda Teachers’ Association, the head teachers said the delay was “slowing the progress of free education in secondary schoolsâ€.
The chairperson, Rose Izizinga, said the continued delay was likely to affect the quality of education.
“The Government should act quickly,†she stated during the head teachers’ annual general meeting at Kitante Primary School in Kampala.
With the Universal Primary Education already facing quality challenges partly due to inadequate funding, USE head teachers are worried that the trend may be replayed.
The education ministry last term released only 57% of the expected funds, about sh7b for Senior Two and Senior Three students under the programme. The ministry, however, did not allocate funds to Senior One students.
The acting assistant commissioner for secondary education, Francis Uma Agula, explained that the delays were caused by the finance ministry.
“It is unfortunate that we delayed sending Senior One funds, but they have now been sent. For other classes, we did not have enough money to disburse to the schools.â€
“The biggest problem is that the financial year does not match with the academic calendar.â€
Every USE student is allocated sh41,000 per term.
Agula noted that the Government was planning to pay the balance of last term’s USE funds at the beginning of the second term which begins late May. Official records show that 1,353 USE schools were affected by the delays.
All the 550 private schools, which are in partnership with the Government, were not affected by the delays.
Apart from private schools which are not in the USE partnership, Uganda has 116 non-USE government schools.
HEAD teachers of schools under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) scheme have complained to the Government over the delay by the finance ministry to release funds.
Through the Uganda Teachers’ Association, the head teachers said the delay was “slowing the progress of free education in secondary schoolsâ€.
The chairperson, Rose Izizinga, said the continued delay was likely to affect the quality of education.
“The Government should act quickly,†she stated during the head teachers’ annual general meeting at Kitante Primary School in Kampala.
With the Universal Primary Education already facing quality challenges partly due to inadequate funding, USE head teachers are worried that the trend may be replayed.
The education ministry last term released only 57% of the expected funds, about sh7b for Senior Two and Senior Three students under the programme. The ministry, however, did not allocate funds to Senior One students.
The acting assistant commissioner for secondary education, Francis Uma Agula, explained that the delays were caused by the finance ministry.
“It is unfortunate that we delayed sending Senior One funds, but they have now been sent. For other classes, we did not have enough money to disburse to the schools.â€
“The biggest problem is that the financial year does not match with the academic calendar.â€
Every USE student is allocated sh41,000 per term.
Agula noted that the Government was planning to pay the balance of last term’s USE funds at the beginning of the second term which begins late May. Official records show that 1,353 USE schools were affected by the delays.
All the 550 private schools, which are in partnership with the Government, were not affected by the delays.
Apart from private schools which are not in the USE partnership, Uganda has 116 non-USE government schools.