By Aggrey Baba
A major increase in government spending on education has been proposed in Gen Salim Saleh and his friend Prof Ogenga Otunnu’s power-sharing arrangement, warning that Uganda’s growing disparities in the quality of schools are reproducing economic exclusion, social inequality and the very divisions the proposed Consociational Democracy Agreement seeks to eliminate.
The two, in their working paper, recommend that government raises public spending on education to at least 13.3% in the medium term, before progressively increasing it to 20% by 2030.
They argue that although Uganda has established a progressive legal framework for universal education through the 1995 Constitution, the Education Act of 2008, Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE), access to quality education remains heavily determined by how financially stable a family is, and the region one comes from.
They observe that children from poorer homes are increasingly disadvantaged by the costs of books, examination fees, school uniforms, learning materials, meals and Parent-Teacher Association contributions, further warning that children enrolled in poorly performing schools are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out to engage in activities that provide immediate income to support their families.
The paper argues that the growing divide between public and private schools has turned education, which should be an equalizing opportunity, into another mechanism for reproducing social stratification.
The paper particularly points to disparities in northern and eastern regions of Uganda, saying the regions have some of the poorest-performing government schools, and it is linked to wider patterns of poverty and underdevelopment.
To address the problem, the Saleh proposes systematic salary adjustments for teachers, performance-based career progression and additional allowances for teachers willing to work in remote and historically marginalized areas.
The authors also want government to construct more classrooms to reduce congestion and achieve a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:40.
The paper further calls for stronger action against corruption and leakages in the education sector, alongside a review of affirmative action policies to establish whether they are delivering the intended improvements.
Gen Saleh and his friend also propose that development partners increase the proportion of their official development assistance allocated to education from approximately 5% to at least 10%.
Education inequality, according Gen Saleh and Professor Otunnu, is not merely a social-sector problem but a national cohesion challenge because unequal schooling perpetuates exclusion, marginalization, underdevelopment and political divisions.
The proposal cites improvements achieved under UPE and USE, including an increase in primary school enrolment from 2.5 million in 1996 to 10.8 million by 2019, as well as progress towards gender parity and increased literacy.
However, it argues that expanding enrolment without addressing the quality and affordability of education will leave many children disadvantaged.
The two therefore want education financing and reforms treated as part of the broader national settlement rather than isolated government interventions. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
