Education takes biggest slice of the Budget again
Jun 17, 2007
AS the fight against illiteracy in Uganda intensifies, the Education sector has again taken the lion’s share in next year’s Budget. The sector’s budget grew by 5% to sh752.35b up from sh720.81b this financial year, which ends June 30.
By Mary Karugaba
AS the fight against illiteracy in Uganda intensifies, the Education sector has again taken the lion’s share in next year’s Budget. The sector’s budget grew by 5% to sh752.35b up from sh720.81b this financial year, which ends June 30.
The closest sectors to the education budget were Economic Functions and Social services which grew from sh671.38b to sh720.70b; Works and transport from sh464.88b to sh563.70b; Security from sh377.26b to sh396.9b and Health from sh381.84b to 386.46.
It is projected that by 2010, the Education sector budget will have risen to sh865.76b. For the last two financial years, the sector has been getting the lion’s share of the Budget compared to other sectors.
Qualified teachers who have been jobless have a cause to smile as sh24b was specifically allocated for the recruitment of teachers, construction of classrooms and capitation in support of USE.
Finance Minister Ezra Suruma hopes that with increased funding, the education sector’s quality problems will be solved.
The increment in the budget is also to cater for primary teachers’ wages and implementation of the Universal Post Primary Education Training policy.
The sector wants to improve considerably the quality of education at all levels by enhancing the capacity of the National Council for Higher Education, enhancing the Inspectorate function and reviewing the national curriculum.
There are 155,000 students under USE which was introduced this year and as many as 7.3 million under the UPE programme started a decade ago.
Traditionally, 65% of the sector’s budget goes to UPE, 20% to the post-primary sector and the balance is shared by the tertiary sub-sector.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, lauded the budget increment as good although it might not adequately address all the education needs.
Outstanding issues regarding public universities, many of which are budgetary, have not been handled in the budget, raising concern among the legislators and the public.
For example, the provision made in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework does not adequately address the shortfalls for the salary enhancement of staff in public universities despite the fact that the Government had made assurances to these staff. There is a shortfall of sh4.9b to fill this gap.
This, MPs fear, will continue hampering the quality of teaching in schools.
They recommend that government should expeditiously internalise these reports, made by several investigative committees, to handle university concerns and resolve them before universities strike again.
They propose that in the meantime the Government should consider allowing the universities to use locally generated revenues to fill this gap.
Making science compulsory in secondary schools without the required facilities threatens the quality of education.
The government has provided mobile science kits but it’s unfortunate that in some schools, there are no places in which to operate them.
The probability of sustaining the programme (provision of kits) is also in balance given the fact that it is supported by the Japanese government.
Government argues that this is a temporary arrangement and “in future permanent laboratories are to be considered if funds become availableâ€.
Despite the problems still facing the sector, the Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire, is optimistic that the quality of education will automatically improve now that the budget has been increased.
“Quality cannot be attained within one year. It’s a process and I am sure that with more funds to recruit more teachers and construct more classrooms, the quality will surely improve.
However, Ugandans must know that there has been an expansion in education sector which, requires a corresponding input,†she said.
Critics, however, do not believe that the increased budget will improve the quality of education in the country. They argue that unless the government changes its focus from eradicating illiteracy to imparting skills, the trend might continue for many years to come.
Makerere University Lecturer Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba argues that the lion’s share of the budget will not necessarily improve the quality because it’s not the money that works but the kind of investment put into education.
He argues that the sector, instead of focusing on eradicating illiteracy, should focus on technical training, which has helped some of the developed countries reach where they are now.
“The focus should not be eradicating illiteracy but imparting skills for development. Which country has ever developed because of primary graduates?†Nuwagaba asked.
Although the ministry’s budget was approved by Parliament, several MPs still argue that pumping huge amounts of money into the sector is not the solution to the problem of poor quality.
They argue that it’s not the funds that will improve the quality of education but the policies, which the Government has not yet addressed properly.
Okot Ogongo Dokolo MP argues that the education system in the country is not geared at productivity but creating a class of unemployed people. “My biggest problem with the education system in Uganda is that we are very much focused on creating mass writing and reading, but not people who can produce something,†he observes.
John Arumadri argues that money will not help unless more teachers are recruited and facilitated and the infrastructure improved upon. “No matter how much they inject into the sector, if they don’t address the issue of teachers, the quality will never improve.
Imagine a school with 14 teaching subjects having only three teachers on payroll. I don’t think anything will change with these conditions, coupled with expensive text books and poor inspection methods,†Arumadri says.
The social service committee chairperson, James Kubekiterya, argues that with enhancing the education inspectorate standard, the quality will surely improve.
Jane Alisemera Bundibugyo Woman MP insisted that with more funds in the sector, the quality will improve because there is little corruption.
“Education is not like any other sector. If there is more money, many of the problems will be addressed. There is nothing like poor planning. What we need is to see all Ugandans learning how to read and write,†she said.
Frank Tumwebaze Kamwenge MP observed that quality is a gradual process that won’t take place through criticising UPE or USE. “Quality is a gradual state brought about by such increased allocations.
That is how it comes about. It won’t come by criticising UPE or USE,†he said.
AS the fight against illiteracy in Uganda intensifies, the Education sector has again taken the lion’s share in next year’s Budget. The sector’s budget grew by 5% to sh752.35b up from sh720.81b this financial year, which ends June 30.
The closest sectors to the education budget were Economic Functions and Social services which grew from sh671.38b to sh720.70b; Works and transport from sh464.88b to sh563.70b; Security from sh377.26b to sh396.9b and Health from sh381.84b to 386.46.
It is projected that by 2010, the Education sector budget will have risen to sh865.76b. For the last two financial years, the sector has been getting the lion’s share of the Budget compared to other sectors.
Qualified teachers who have been jobless have a cause to smile as sh24b was specifically allocated for the recruitment of teachers, construction of classrooms and capitation in support of USE.
Finance Minister Ezra Suruma hopes that with increased funding, the education sector’s quality problems will be solved.
The increment in the budget is also to cater for primary teachers’ wages and implementation of the Universal Post Primary Education Training policy.
The sector wants to improve considerably the quality of education at all levels by enhancing the capacity of the National Council for Higher Education, enhancing the Inspectorate function and reviewing the national curriculum.
There are 155,000 students under USE which was introduced this year and as many as 7.3 million under the UPE programme started a decade ago.
Traditionally, 65% of the sector’s budget goes to UPE, 20% to the post-primary sector and the balance is shared by the tertiary sub-sector.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, lauded the budget increment as good although it might not adequately address all the education needs.
Outstanding issues regarding public universities, many of which are budgetary, have not been handled in the budget, raising concern among the legislators and the public.
For example, the provision made in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework does not adequately address the shortfalls for the salary enhancement of staff in public universities despite the fact that the Government had made assurances to these staff. There is a shortfall of sh4.9b to fill this gap.
This, MPs fear, will continue hampering the quality of teaching in schools.
They recommend that government should expeditiously internalise these reports, made by several investigative committees, to handle university concerns and resolve them before universities strike again.
They propose that in the meantime the Government should consider allowing the universities to use locally generated revenues to fill this gap.
Making science compulsory in secondary schools without the required facilities threatens the quality of education.
The government has provided mobile science kits but it’s unfortunate that in some schools, there are no places in which to operate them.
The probability of sustaining the programme (provision of kits) is also in balance given the fact that it is supported by the Japanese government.
Government argues that this is a temporary arrangement and “in future permanent laboratories are to be considered if funds become availableâ€.
Despite the problems still facing the sector, the Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire, is optimistic that the quality of education will automatically improve now that the budget has been increased.
“Quality cannot be attained within one year. It’s a process and I am sure that with more funds to recruit more teachers and construct more classrooms, the quality will surely improve.
However, Ugandans must know that there has been an expansion in education sector which, requires a corresponding input,†she said.
Critics, however, do not believe that the increased budget will improve the quality of education in the country. They argue that unless the government changes its focus from eradicating illiteracy to imparting skills, the trend might continue for many years to come.
Makerere University Lecturer Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba argues that the lion’s share of the budget will not necessarily improve the quality because it’s not the money that works but the kind of investment put into education.
He argues that the sector, instead of focusing on eradicating illiteracy, should focus on technical training, which has helped some of the developed countries reach where they are now.
“The focus should not be eradicating illiteracy but imparting skills for development. Which country has ever developed because of primary graduates?†Nuwagaba asked.
Although the ministry’s budget was approved by Parliament, several MPs still argue that pumping huge amounts of money into the sector is not the solution to the problem of poor quality.
They argue that it’s not the funds that will improve the quality of education but the policies, which the Government has not yet addressed properly.
Okot Ogongo Dokolo MP argues that the education system in the country is not geared at productivity but creating a class of unemployed people. “My biggest problem with the education system in Uganda is that we are very much focused on creating mass writing and reading, but not people who can produce something,†he observes.
John Arumadri argues that money will not help unless more teachers are recruited and facilitated and the infrastructure improved upon. “No matter how much they inject into the sector, if they don’t address the issue of teachers, the quality will never improve.
Imagine a school with 14 teaching subjects having only three teachers on payroll. I don’t think anything will change with these conditions, coupled with expensive text books and poor inspection methods,†Arumadri says.
The social service committee chairperson, James Kubekiterya, argues that with enhancing the education inspectorate standard, the quality will surely improve.
Jane Alisemera Bundibugyo Woman MP insisted that with more funds in the sector, the quality will improve because there is little corruption.
“Education is not like any other sector. If there is more money, many of the problems will be addressed. There is nothing like poor planning. What we need is to see all Ugandans learning how to read and write,†she said.
Frank Tumwebaze Kamwenge MP observed that quality is a gradual process that won’t take place through criticising UPE or USE. “Quality is a gradual state brought about by such increased allocations.
That is how it comes about. It won’t come by criticising UPE or USE,†he said.