Secondary bursaries up

Nov 03, 2003

THE Government will double the secondary school bursary fund from sh510m to over sh1b next year, education minister Dr. Khiddu Makubuya has announced.

By John Eremu
THE Government will double the secondary school bursary fund from sh510m to over sh1b next year, education minister Dr. Khiddu Makubuya has announced.

He told the 10th education sector review workshop in Kampala yesterday that 1,844 students from poor families benefited from the scheme this year of which 825 were girls.

Makubuya said a consultant had been hired to study the possibility of operating a loan scheme for higher education.

He said the final draft of the strategic plan for tertiary education had been completed.

This is the framework governing the operation of tertiary education institutions.

The education sector review takes place every six months and brings together donors, academics, policy makers, local government officials and legislators to review the sector’s performance against agreed targets and chart the way forward.

The Dutch ambassador, Matthieu Peters, expressed worry at the high drop out rate under the UPE programme.

“Only 20% of the UPE cohort of 1997 completed the seven-year education cycle. This is a very alarming figure and might put the success of the programme in a different perspective,” said Peters who spoke on behalf of donors.
He called for a speedy review of the primary school curriculum and a more efficient use of the available resources.

He warned against putting in place policies without matching funding.

Education permanent secretary Francis Lubanga said the Government and the Ministry had met most of the targets agreed during the May 2003 review.

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