2010/11 Budget...
Jun 23, 2010
<b>More money for education: But will the effect be visible?</b><br>The Government will increase its expenditure on education by sh60b, finance minister Syda Bbumba recently announced while reading the 2010/2011 budget. In the last financial year, sh1.079 trillion was
By Frederick Womakuyu
and Arthur Baguma
More money for education: But will the effect be visible?
The Government will increase its expenditure on education by sh60b, finance minister Syda Bbumba recently announced while reading the 2010/2011 budget. In the last financial year, sh1.079 trillion was allocated to the sector.
Some people feel the amount is a step in the right direction, but skeptics wonder whether it will make a difference. According to primary education minister Dr. Kamanda Bataringaya, the education ministry last year failed to spend sh16b, which was allocated to it. “That money was meant for recruitment of teachers. But the districts failed to recruit teachers.â€
Bataringaya adds that the districts failed to recruit teachers because some of them, many of whom are new, did not have service commissions to recruit teachers. He also explains that the procurement procedures involve a long process, which has hindered the construction of schools, teachers’ houses and laboratories.
Bataringaya says procurement procedures usually take three to five months, while others can take up to a year because so many verification processes are involved.
“By the time we start the project, the financial year would have ended. This has been a big obstacle to many projects in the country.†Phillip Kalebi, the district education officer for Butaleja, says the biggest challenge they face is inadequate funding.
“Sometimes we cannot convene a meeting to recruit teachers because of lack of money to cater for the allowances of the members of the district service commission,†Kalebi says. He explains that the money that caters for the allowances comes from the education budget. Kalebi adds that this money is usually so little that the district service commissions have to sit only once in a year to recruit teachers.
“But this is not possible because they cannot interview everybody in one sitting. There have to be at least three meetings in a year. So in the end, the money meant for teachers’ salaries is returned to the treasury,†he explains.
He adds that some districts, especially those in remote areas, fail to attract and retain teachers. Bataringaya says the Government is in the process of changing the procurement procedures so that they last for less than two or one week.
He adds that they are about to take the proposal to the Parliament for approval.
Govt defends increased spending
Over the last five years, the budget allocation to the education sector has been increasing steadily from sh633.43b in 2005/2006 to sh1.1trillion.
Defending this trend, Bbumba said the Government will continue to focus on increasing and improving equitable access to quality education at all levels.
Education minister Namirembe Bitamazire said the boost in education is aimed at improving the quality of schooling through construction of more classrooms, teaching, inspection and sanitation in schools, especially those under the universal primary and secondary education programmes.
The education sector also needs to recruit more teachers. Some schools are under-resourced, with ratios of over 100 pupils per teacher.
Other schools also do not have enough classrooms and pupils are taught under trees. This inconveniences both the pupils and the teachers, especially during class transfers when the weather conditions change.
This compromises the teaching-learning process and hence the quality of education. The Government argues that with increased expenditure to the education sector, it will be able to focus on increasing enrollment in primary schools, managing transition from primary to secondary schools and maintaining the admission of 4,000 students to public universities on government sponsorship every year.
In addition the Government hopes to improve access to physical education and sports. To consolidate the gains of UPE, the Education Act 2008 which makes primary education compulsory, will be enforced. As part of monitoring the implementation of the UPE and USE programmes, a census of students will be undertaken.
The Universal Secondary Education programme will also roll-out to cover senior four.
How the money will be used
Bataringaya discloses that the ministry has already put up a plan for the efficient use of the money allocated to it.
He explains that some of the money will be used to construct teachers’ houses, a move aimed at reducing absenteeism among teachers, which currently stands at 30%.
The ministry will also construct over eight vocational schools and laboratories for over 30 seed schools under the USE programme.
“The vocational schools will accommodate some of the students from the universal primary and secondary education programmes.â€
Bitamazire says the boost will help them improve the quality and efficiency, especially in schools under the USE programme, which experienced increased enrolment without an increase in facilities.
In order to ensure that the money is not misused, Bataringaya says the ministry is starting a system where the money is directly transferred from the finance ministry to the accounts of the schools.
“The district and internal auditors plus the education officials of each district will be responsible for supervising and ensuring accountability. The Auditor General will also audit the schools after every quarter. Anybody found guilty of misusing the money will be prosecuted.â€
Send your feedback to
education@newvision.co.ug or through sms: type education, leave space, type your feedback and name and send to 8338
and Arthur Baguma
More money for education: But will the effect be visible?
The Government will increase its expenditure on education by sh60b, finance minister Syda Bbumba recently announced while reading the 2010/2011 budget. In the last financial year, sh1.079 trillion was allocated to the sector.
Some people feel the amount is a step in the right direction, but skeptics wonder whether it will make a difference. According to primary education minister Dr. Kamanda Bataringaya, the education ministry last year failed to spend sh16b, which was allocated to it. “That money was meant for recruitment of teachers. But the districts failed to recruit teachers.â€
Bataringaya adds that the districts failed to recruit teachers because some of them, many of whom are new, did not have service commissions to recruit teachers. He also explains that the procurement procedures involve a long process, which has hindered the construction of schools, teachers’ houses and laboratories.
Bataringaya says procurement procedures usually take three to five months, while others can take up to a year because so many verification processes are involved.
“By the time we start the project, the financial year would have ended. This has been a big obstacle to many projects in the country.†Phillip Kalebi, the district education officer for Butaleja, says the biggest challenge they face is inadequate funding.
“Sometimes we cannot convene a meeting to recruit teachers because of lack of money to cater for the allowances of the members of the district service commission,†Kalebi says. He explains that the money that caters for the allowances comes from the education budget. Kalebi adds that this money is usually so little that the district service commissions have to sit only once in a year to recruit teachers.
“But this is not possible because they cannot interview everybody in one sitting. There have to be at least three meetings in a year. So in the end, the money meant for teachers’ salaries is returned to the treasury,†he explains.
He adds that some districts, especially those in remote areas, fail to attract and retain teachers. Bataringaya says the Government is in the process of changing the procurement procedures so that they last for less than two or one week.
He adds that they are about to take the proposal to the Parliament for approval.
Govt defends increased spending
Over the last five years, the budget allocation to the education sector has been increasing steadily from sh633.43b in 2005/2006 to sh1.1trillion.
Defending this trend, Bbumba said the Government will continue to focus on increasing and improving equitable access to quality education at all levels.
Education minister Namirembe Bitamazire said the boost in education is aimed at improving the quality of schooling through construction of more classrooms, teaching, inspection and sanitation in schools, especially those under the universal primary and secondary education programmes.
The education sector also needs to recruit more teachers. Some schools are under-resourced, with ratios of over 100 pupils per teacher.
Other schools also do not have enough classrooms and pupils are taught under trees. This inconveniences both the pupils and the teachers, especially during class transfers when the weather conditions change.
This compromises the teaching-learning process and hence the quality of education. The Government argues that with increased expenditure to the education sector, it will be able to focus on increasing enrollment in primary schools, managing transition from primary to secondary schools and maintaining the admission of 4,000 students to public universities on government sponsorship every year.
In addition the Government hopes to improve access to physical education and sports. To consolidate the gains of UPE, the Education Act 2008 which makes primary education compulsory, will be enforced. As part of monitoring the implementation of the UPE and USE programmes, a census of students will be undertaken.
The Universal Secondary Education programme will also roll-out to cover senior four.
How the money will be used
Bataringaya discloses that the ministry has already put up a plan for the efficient use of the money allocated to it.
He explains that some of the money will be used to construct teachers’ houses, a move aimed at reducing absenteeism among teachers, which currently stands at 30%.
The ministry will also construct over eight vocational schools and laboratories for over 30 seed schools under the USE programme.
“The vocational schools will accommodate some of the students from the universal primary and secondary education programmes.â€
Bitamazire says the boost will help them improve the quality and efficiency, especially in schools under the USE programme, which experienced increased enrolment without an increase in facilities.
In order to ensure that the money is not misused, Bataringaya says the ministry is starting a system where the money is directly transferred from the finance ministry to the accounts of the schools.
“The district and internal auditors plus the education officials of each district will be responsible for supervising and ensuring accountability. The Auditor General will also audit the schools after every quarter. Anybody found guilty of misusing the money will be prosecuted.â€
Send your feedback to
education@newvision.co.ug or through sms: type education, leave space, type your feedback and name and send to 8338