Sh15b earmarked for govt aided secondary school

The Government has earmarked sh15.8b to aid 62 secondary schools countrywide in a bid to increase access to education. This is in addition to 120 community schools that were grant-aided between 2016 and 2018.

In the same period, nine seed secondary schools were constructed. According to the state minister of higher education, Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Government is currently building complete secondary schools in terms of infrastructure.

Each secondary school will have six classrooms, a multi-purpose hall, and staff houses for six teachers, an Information and Communications Technology laboratory, a library and a science laboratory.

Each complete school is estimated to cost sh2b. Under the Uganda inter-government fiscal transfers for results programme, 117 sub-counties without a public secondary school received funds in FY 2018/19 to construct new seed schools. An additional 115 new seed secondary schools shall be constructed in the FY 2020/21. Three seed schools at various stages of construction are; Nyangoma Seed SS, Kyotera, Nyakatonzi Seed SS in Kasese and Katikekile Seed SS in Moroto.

According to the Ministry of Education and Sports, the Government plans to construct a public secondary school in each sub-county countrywide. Despite the on-ongoing construction, 428 sub-counties, town councils and divisions still do not have a public secondary school, according to March 2019 ministry statistics.

The ministry is progressively phasing out public-private partnerships (PPP) in Universal Secondary Education. This followed a 2016 presidential directive to completely phase out the arrangement by the 2020/21 financial year. Under the PPP, the Government provides a capitation grant of sh47,000 and sh85,000 per student, per year in O' and A'level, respectively in a government-aided school.

 
At least sh36b has been saved following the phasing out of PPP in USE. Part of the savings will be used for grant-aided community schools and the construction of incomplete infrastructure.

Teachers recruited

In a bid to address teacher-to-student ratios, 4,520 teachers have been recruited in the last three years. Another 3,610 positions for secondary teachers have been advertised. Of these, 1,945 are for science teachers and 1,665 for arts. The government has also scored in reforming of the lower secondary curriculum with a rollout expected this financial year.

Boosting traditional schools

There has been the rehabilitation of traditional secondary schools and the provision of science textbooks to improve the teaching of practicals. Traditional schools like Kyenjojo S.S and St Balikuddembe Mitala Maria S.S each received a multi-functional academic block, an ICT lab, and a library. Ntare School received a multi-purpose science laboratory block that is nearing completion. The construction of a standard laboratory at Ntare School in Mbarara is in high gear. The project cost sh2.5b.

Ntare School headteacher Jimmy Turyagyenda commended the Government for considering the school and said the new lab will help to better the already best performance of science subjects at the school."The construction is going on well and we are hopeful the project will be completed in the stipulated time," Turyagyenda said.

Kigezi College Butobere and Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School have been included for rehabilitation and expansion under the inter-governmental fiscal transfers programme.

This year the commissioner-in-charge of Secondary Schools in the Ministry of Education and Sports, Sam Kuloba, announced an sh2.3b grant to rehabilitate Teso College Aloet in Soroti district.

"Last financial year, we were concentrating on the construction works of 117 seed secondary schools across the country," Kuloba said.

He revealed that this financial year, the Government has planned to construct 115 more seed secondary schools. Despite these achievements, the ministry is still grappling with problems of dilapidated infrastructure at schools and a high enrolment that outstrips available facilities and teachers