Education Ministry Has No Capacity To Save Private Schools Hit By COVID-19, Says Minister

The State Minister for Primary Education, Joyce Moriku Kaducu (pictured) has said the Ministry of Education and Sports has no capacity to rescue private education institutions that have been badly hit by COVID-19 disruptions.

TKaducu made the remarks while leading a team of officials from the ministry of education to give their views on the petition by a section of MPs who want the government to cushion private schools with Shs100 million each to assist them in re-opening.

The commissioner Private schools at the ministry Edward Sebukyu said that it’s true private schools play a big role in investment of the education sector, ensuring quality education, contributing to GDP and revenue but the ministry is financially constrained.

He noted that according to the Education Act of 2008, the responsibility of the government on private education institutions shall be to ensure that private education institutions conform to the rules and regulations governing education services in Uganda and says that the law did not envisage the need to finance private education institutions from the public funds.

Sebukyu further explained that the capitation allocations for the education sector under the current expenditure is based on each enrolled learner in the public schools which restricts the use of resources under the approved budget to public schools and institutions.

He added that the ministry has instead supported private schools through providing text books to all schools without considering whether one is public or private, supply of home study materials to learners, the Shs 20 billion grant that was allocated to teachers among others.

MPs on the committee however asked the ministry to divert the Shs48 billion allocated to supply home study materials to assist private schools to re-open as students no longer need these materials since schools will be opening soon.

The Kalungu west MP Joseph Ssewungu said that students do not have these study materials and they should be used to support private schools.

Cuthbert Abigaba, the vice chairperson of the committee said that he supports the proposal to help private institutions.