Govt to pay exam fees for USE
Feb 14, 2010
The government will this year start paying examination fees for S4 candidates under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme.
By Conan Businge
The government will this year start paying examination fees for S4 candidates under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme.
The good news was contained in tough guidelines the government issued for the disbursement of examination fees.
The number of S4 candidates is expected to increase by 50% this year. This means that a total of 321,310 will sit for exams.
To be eligible for free national examinations, students must have enrolled in a USE participating secondary school in 2007. They must also have attained between aggregate 4 and 28 in the primary leaving examinations of 2006.
This implies that not all children in USE schools will benefit. The measure, according to ministry officials, is meant to prevent students from crossing from non-USE schools to USE schools with the sole purpose of avoiding paying exam fees.
The education ministry’s permanent secretary, Francis Lubanga, in a statement, stressed that the Government will pay examination fees only for USE eligible students.
“The student should also have been regular at school where he or she enrolled. Head teachers should ensure that only regular and eligible students are presented to UNEB for registration for examinations,†he explained.
“For avoidance of doubt, a student who was ineligible for admission as a USE student under the USE Programme or one who was not enrolled in a USE school does not qualify for this registration grant.â€
The Government will pay sh63,000 for every eligible USE candidate this year. This, Lubanga said, is part of the Government’s commitment to remove all barriers that stop students from accessing quality secondary education.
The verification of eligible students will be carried out during the national head-count exercise in March 2010.
Free secondary education has been rolled out gradually, having S1 and S2 covered in 2007. It raised the transition rate from primary to secondary school from 46% to 69% according to Government figures.
Secondary school enrolment rose to almost a million students in 2007. Another 179,440 S1 students will today be admitted in Government-aided schools to benefit from the USE scheme.
The government will this year start paying examination fees for S4 candidates under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme.
The good news was contained in tough guidelines the government issued for the disbursement of examination fees.
The number of S4 candidates is expected to increase by 50% this year. This means that a total of 321,310 will sit for exams.
To be eligible for free national examinations, students must have enrolled in a USE participating secondary school in 2007. They must also have attained between aggregate 4 and 28 in the primary leaving examinations of 2006.
This implies that not all children in USE schools will benefit. The measure, according to ministry officials, is meant to prevent students from crossing from non-USE schools to USE schools with the sole purpose of avoiding paying exam fees.
The education ministry’s permanent secretary, Francis Lubanga, in a statement, stressed that the Government will pay examination fees only for USE eligible students.
“The student should also have been regular at school where he or she enrolled. Head teachers should ensure that only regular and eligible students are presented to UNEB for registration for examinations,†he explained.
“For avoidance of doubt, a student who was ineligible for admission as a USE student under the USE Programme or one who was not enrolled in a USE school does not qualify for this registration grant.â€
The Government will pay sh63,000 for every eligible USE candidate this year. This, Lubanga said, is part of the Government’s commitment to remove all barriers that stop students from accessing quality secondary education.
The verification of eligible students will be carried out during the national head-count exercise in March 2010.
Free secondary education has been rolled out gradually, having S1 and S2 covered in 2007. It raised the transition rate from primary to secondary school from 46% to 69% according to Government figures.
Secondary school enrolment rose to almost a million students in 2007. Another 179,440 S1 students will today be admitted in Government-aided schools to benefit from the USE scheme.