Has delay to implement guidelines left many children out of school?

Jul 14, 2009

It is one year since the Education Act 2008 was passed, but it has not been implemented.

By Arthur Baguma
It is one year since the Education Act 2008 was passed, but it has not been implemented.

The 84-page Act, with some of the toughest measures in the history of education laws, is gathering dust because the implementation guidelines have not been put in place.

Ordinarily when a law is passed, the line ministry is supposed to issue guidelines for its implementation.

“Why would it take a year without implementing the guidelines? Isn’t this unseriousness?” asks a district education officer who preferred anonymity.

The Act states that the provision of education and training to a child is a joint responsibility of the state, parent or guardian and other stakeholders.

It also stipulates that basic education shall be provided and enjoyed, as a right, by all persons.

The objective of the Act is to give full effect to decentralisation of pre-primary, primary and post-primary education.

This implies that local governments are supposed to take an active role in the monitoring of staff, accountability of funds and utilisation of resources at the district level.

In July 2008, over 100 parents in Mbarara district were arrested over failure to take their children to school.

With the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE), all children are supposed to get free education.

However, some parents have kept their children at home to do domestic chores. Unless the guidelines of the Act are implemented, such cases will continue to happen.

Recently, the Amuru district executive committee approved a by-law to imprison parents who do not send their children to school.

The parents will be jailed for six months or fined sh40,000 per child not sent to school.

Gilbert Olanya, the secretary for education, says parents of over 300 children who were rounded up at Anaka Internally Displaced People’s Camp were fined sh5,000 per child.

James Kubeketerya, the former chairperson of the parliamentary social services, says the guidelines should be expedited to ascertain who will enforce the law and apprehend the culprits.

However, the education ministry insists that implementation of the guidelines is in progress, but does not give the timeframe within which the guidelines will be issued.

A source at the ministry says the matter of implementing guidelines has been discussed in a number of meetings.

Aggrey Kibenge, the ministry’s spokesperson, says: “The process may have delayed, but the draft guidelines have been developed. It is a question of giving them the legal aspect and gazzeting them.”

Education experts argue that the delay has hindered the full effect of the decentralisation of education services, one of the key objectives of the Act.

Education officers accuse the ministry of involving in the procurement of instructional materials and undermining the Decentralised Instructional Materials Procurement programme.

They argue that the role of the ministry should stop at enforcing guidelines, implementing and monitoring policies.

Another district education officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, says it is not possible for a district to order for text books directly from the publisher. He says districts are required to source a local supplier of text books in the district.

But according to the guidelines, this person must have another partner, usually a bookshop in Kampala.
This partner is supposed to link up with a publisher.

“It is so frustrating. Why should procurement of text books be a business of the ministry?” the source asks. The ministry speaks out An official denies allegations that the ministry is still involved in the procurement of text books.

He says the ministry only retained the role of apportioning procument of instructional materials to each district.

He explains that identification of suppliers is done by the district through the tender boards.

The official says because book sellers in districts are small, they are not known to publishers in Kampala. They also do not have money to pay directly.

He explains that the publishers approached the ministry and requested that district suppliers partner with renown bookshops in Kampala to ensure security for the publishers because transactions are done on credit.

The local supplier and partner bookshop in Kampala usually open a joint account and the money paid to the district. “Our role is to monitor the account and ensure that the publishers are paid by the district.”

Albert Byamugisha, the assistant commissioner in charge of planning at the education ministry, says some districts have started implementing the Act.

“Once a law is passed by Parliament, all stakeholders should implement it. Already, some districts are implementing it.”

Lawyer Erias Lukwago warns that the Act could cause confusion and lead to legal action if some of its aspects are implemented without guidelines from the minister.

He notes that there are aspects of the Act which are currently operational, while others can only be operational after the minister has given the guidelines to operationalise the Act.

“It is okay to implement parts of the Act, but that is not a justification for the minister to delay the issuance of guidelines. The whole Act should be fully operational,” Lukwago observes.

Objectives
?l To give full effect to the education policy of the Government, functions and services by the Government

l ?To give full effect to the
decentralisation of education services

?l To give full effect to Universal Primary Education

?l To give full effect to the Universal Post-Primary Education and Training Policy of the Government

?l To promote partnership with the various stakeholders in providing education services.

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