KAMPALA – The World Bank has urged Ugandan authorities to increase investment in education if the country is to develop human capital and sustain strong economic growth.
In the latest edition of the Uganda Economic Update released on late last week, the World Bank said that Uganda needs about 2 billion U.S. dollars of additional public funds till 2025 to ensure that all children complete primary schools and acquire basic literacy, numeracy and skills.
This financial, the Bank said, need might be halved if solid education system improvement measures are implemented in line with best international experience.
“Such measures include providing better pre-primary learning opportunities for poor children, eliminating repetition and dropouts, reducing the number of subjects taught at secondary schools, optimizing teacher workload,” the report said.
Compared with other countries in the east African region, Uganda spends only 2.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education, lower than 3.2 percent to 5.2 percent spent by Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the bank said.
It recommended that Uganda increase public spending on education from current 10 percent of the national budget to the regional average of 16 percent by 2025.
