Tertiary Intake Slashed By 2,000

By John Eremu THE Government has reduced scholarships to tertiary institutions by over 2,000. Some courses had student sponsorship cut down by up to 70%, the new admissions guidelines issued by the education ministry last week indicated. The tertiary institutions which used to admit at least 8,400 students on state scholarships this year took only about 6,000, according to the admissions list displayed by the Joint Admissions Board yesterday. The new guidelines released by Betty Akech, the state minister for higher education, said the Government will only cater for 30% of the students in co-operatives, hotel training institutions and Uganda colleges of commerce. The other 70% will have to sponsor themselves. The Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK) will have the highest number of scholarships with up to 89% of the students being sponsored. Also 80% of the students in the 10 National Teachers Colleges (NTCs) will be financed by the State. But at the Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), where students went on strike early this year protesting cost-sharing, only 36% of the students will be sponsored. In paramedical schools, fisheries institutes and agricultural colleges, the Government will pay for 40% of students as opposed to 45% in technical colleges. The cuts in scholarships come at a time when the Government has doubled sponsorship in state universities to 4,000 and abolished cost-sharing in all higher institutions of learning. However, the Government scholarships only cover tuition and upkeep, but the students will still pay for caution money, identity cards and charges for the guild and the Uganda National Students’ Association. Top ministry officials were yesterday reported to be in Parliament and unavailable for comment. But ministry sources said the abrupt increment in university scholarships and the abolition of cost-sharing could have led to budgetary constraints. The Government sponsored students in tertiary institutions used to pay sh320,000 a year. Capacities of the various colleges could not be established yesterday. Ends