Why Kenyan students prefer Uganda schools
Feb 26, 2006
THIS is real. The 2005 A’ Level examination results released last week do not only indicate a sizeable number of Kenyans in Ugandan schools, but that the Kenyans have also started beating Ugandans at their own game.
By David Cheruiyot
and John Eremu
THIS is real. The 2005 A’ Level examination results released last week do not only indicate a sizeable number of Kenyans in Ugandan schools, but that the Kenyans have also started beating Ugandans at their own game.
In Mbale, five Kenyans were among the top 10 students. In Busia, three Kenyans also featured, while the best and fourth candidates in Tororo were also Kenyans.
Yusuf Nsubuga, the commissioner for secondary education, says the influx of foreign students was a vote of confidence in Uganda’s quality of education. He said the good performance by the Kenyans was because they are serious and come specifically to study.
However, the absence of a policy on admission of foreign students to secondary schools means many could be benefiting from state funding.
“At the moment, we only have guidelines that these students should not benefit from our capitation grants,†Nsubuga said.
“They should also be charged a special rate agreed upon by the school board of governors,†he added.
Nsubuga disclosed that a policy to regulate the admission of foreign students is in the offing.
“We should be able to screen them before admission to avoid taking in those rejected from their countries,†he said. He said the policy also aims at streamlining the income from these students so that they do not end up in individual pockets.
He said the ministry was in the process of hiring consultants to grade the schools in terms of the curriculum offered to avoid unsuspecting foreigners being ripped off their money.
Kenyans constitute the highest percentage of foreign students in Ugandan secondary schools and universities. While their exact number is not known, Makerere University admitted 750 Kenyan students in the academic year 2004/05, the highest intake ever in the history of the 83-year-old institution.
That was more than a 50% increase compared to the 400 admitted in 2002. Records showed that 90% of those admitted had completed their A’ Level in Uganda.
The same year, about 110 Tanzanians and 85 other foreign students also joined Makerere. Other universities in Uganda also take a sizeable number of foreign students.
Why the influx?
While the cost of education in Uganda is cheaper than in Kenya, the greatest impetus for the influx is the incompatible 8-4-4 education system in Kenya.
This system does not make Kenyan students readily admitted to other universities in East Africa and elsewhere.
The 8-4-4 system is where children offer eight years of primary education and four years for secondary and four for university education.
Kenya abandoned the 7-4-2-3 system in 1985, while Africanising what they thought was a colonial legacy.
The 8-4-4 system has since become unpopular because it makes the country excluded from the inter-university council of East Africa.
Only a few private schools in Kenya offer A’ Level at exorbitant rates, compared to Ugandan charges.
Senior Four leavers in Kenya are eligible to join the seven public universities, but about 40,000 qualified students fail to find places annually.
Students’ vacation also takes close to two years before joining universities, which most parents feel is wasted time.
The 16 private universities in Kenya are also expensive. A student who qualifies from here is, therefore, guaranteed admission to cheaper university education.
While Makerere’s tuition fees ranges between sh450,000 to sh1.4m per semester, in Kenya it costs between Ush800,000 and Ush2.9m.
and John Eremu
THIS is real. The 2005 A’ Level examination results released last week do not only indicate a sizeable number of Kenyans in Ugandan schools, but that the Kenyans have also started beating Ugandans at their own game.
In Mbale, five Kenyans were among the top 10 students. In Busia, three Kenyans also featured, while the best and fourth candidates in Tororo were also Kenyans.
Yusuf Nsubuga, the commissioner for secondary education, says the influx of foreign students was a vote of confidence in Uganda’s quality of education. He said the good performance by the Kenyans was because they are serious and come specifically to study.
However, the absence of a policy on admission of foreign students to secondary schools means many could be benefiting from state funding.
“At the moment, we only have guidelines that these students should not benefit from our capitation grants,†Nsubuga said.
“They should also be charged a special rate agreed upon by the school board of governors,†he added.
Nsubuga disclosed that a policy to regulate the admission of foreign students is in the offing.
“We should be able to screen them before admission to avoid taking in those rejected from their countries,†he said. He said the policy also aims at streamlining the income from these students so that they do not end up in individual pockets.
He said the ministry was in the process of hiring consultants to grade the schools in terms of the curriculum offered to avoid unsuspecting foreigners being ripped off their money.
Kenyans constitute the highest percentage of foreign students in Ugandan secondary schools and universities. While their exact number is not known, Makerere University admitted 750 Kenyan students in the academic year 2004/05, the highest intake ever in the history of the 83-year-old institution.
That was more than a 50% increase compared to the 400 admitted in 2002. Records showed that 90% of those admitted had completed their A’ Level in Uganda.
The same year, about 110 Tanzanians and 85 other foreign students also joined Makerere. Other universities in Uganda also take a sizeable number of foreign students.
Why the influx?
While the cost of education in Uganda is cheaper than in Kenya, the greatest impetus for the influx is the incompatible 8-4-4 education system in Kenya.
This system does not make Kenyan students readily admitted to other universities in East Africa and elsewhere.
The 8-4-4 system is where children offer eight years of primary education and four years for secondary and four for university education.
Kenya abandoned the 7-4-2-3 system in 1985, while Africanising what they thought was a colonial legacy.
The 8-4-4 system has since become unpopular because it makes the country excluded from the inter-university council of East Africa.
Only a few private schools in Kenya offer A’ Level at exorbitant rates, compared to Ugandan charges.
Senior Four leavers in Kenya are eligible to join the seven public universities, but about 40,000 qualified students fail to find places annually.
Students’ vacation also takes close to two years before joining universities, which most parents feel is wasted time.
The 16 private universities in Kenya are also expensive. A student who qualifies from here is, therefore, guaranteed admission to cheaper university education.
While Makerere’s tuition fees ranges between sh450,000 to sh1.4m per semester, in Kenya it costs between Ush800,000 and Ush2.9m.