KAMPALA – The Government has allocated UGX1 billion in the budget of FY 2019/20 for the roll-out of the early grade reading in all the districts.
The revelation was made by Minister of State for Planning David Bahati on Thursday at the Office of the President conference hall where the National Planning Authority (NPA) presented a comprehensive evaluation of the Universal primary education(UPE) policy.
Bahati said Government has invested more than UGX.2 trillion in the realization of UPE and USE since the inception of the programmes.
The minister said that the NRM government is committed to ensuring the right of access to education for all its citizens as clearly spelt out in the objectives of the UPE policy.
He said Government is pursuing a people-centered development agenda because human resource is the greatest asset for Uganda.
“There is empirical evidence to indicate that there has been an increased number of primary schools, teachers and growth in enrolment. Government is now focusing on improving the quality of education,” said Bahati.
According to the report presented by NPA Executive Director Joseph Muvawala, 60% of the UPE objectives have been achieved.
About 93% of primary-school-age children in equal gender proportions are enrolled in school, compared to only 40% in 1986 and early 90’s.
According to the report, the UPE policy has positively impacted on household incomes. Other wellbeing indicators such as completing 7 years of primary education increases household incomes by 10.2%.
The report recommends increasing UPE financing towards a per capita of UGX 59,000 for rural schools and UGX 63,000 for urban schools from the current range of about UGX 14,000.
The report concludes that UPE policy has been fundamental in achieving key educational goals since its inception in 1997.
