Uganda’s State House has said that it only pays school fees to students, but doesn’t offer scholarships.
This revelation was made by the State House Comptroller, Lucy Nakyobe while appearing before the Parliament’s Committee of Equal Opportunities on Tuesday to answer questions related to State House scholarships.
The meeting between State House officials and lawmakers follows concerns
raised in the Minority National Budget report by Members on the
Parliamentary Budget Committee.
Authored by Cecilia Ogwal and Muwanga Kivumbi, the report opposed allocations to State House Scholarships, arguing that scholarships offered at Secondary and Primary levels are contrary to Government policies of offering Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education.
During the meeting, Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko, questioned the legality of State House Scholarships, pointing out Section 42(9) of the Higher Education Students Financing Act 2014 which calls for all funds paid by Government institutions to be channeled to Students Loan Scheme.
In her response, Nakyobe denied any illegality committed by State House, noting that they only pay school fees, but not
scholarships.
“Our money isn’t Scholarship Fund. What we use are donation funds. We
haven’t been given money in the budget as Scholarship Funds,” Nakyobe
said.
It should be noted that State House will spend Shs2.4bn on 20
University students abroad (continuing) and Shs3.8bn on new students for University 4education abroad.
According to State House breakdown, Shs11.7bn will be spent on 2031 University students in Uganda, while 85 students in other Tertiary institutions will cost Shs782.9m.
Additionally, State House will spend Shs1.69bn on 707 Secondary school
students and Shs188.5m on 85 pupils in primary schools.
In the 2017/18 budget, Shs20bn was earmarked for State House Scholarships.
