OPTIMISM AS JANET GETS MORE SHS504BN FOR EDUC SECTOR
From the Shs2.78trn allocated in the outgoing FY2018/19, Janet Museveni’s education Ministry will be allocated an additional Shs504.6bn in the new FY2019/20. The Shs504bn increment brings the ministry’s budget for the new FY2019/20 to Shs3.28trn. Janet herself communicated this Shs504bn increment to the MPs on the Education Committee of Parliament chaired by Pallisa County MP Jacob Opolot.
The minister revealed to the legislators how the Shs3.28trn budget would be expended in the next 12 months counting from July 2019. And this is how it goes: Shs1.84trn will be for wages; Shs84bn for non-wage expenditure; Shs28bn for development expenditure and Shs31bn for external financing.
“That increment notwithstanding, the share of the Education and Sports Sector Budget off the National Budget is projected to reduce from 11.08% to 10.26% which is still below the [globally] recommended target of 15%,” she explained.
Mrs Museveni added that even with the increase in the sector budget, a number of critical activities will remain unfunded in the coming FY2019/20. These include the badly needed recruitment of 22,000 primary teachers. To have that recruitment, the MoES requires Shs18bn.
She was accompanied by a team of powerful technocrats led by the Ministry Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza who occasionally weighted in to corroborate some of the things his Minister had explained earlier. For instance, the PS told the committee that an additional Shs17.7bn has been provided for the recruitment of badly needed staff for the BTVET institutions. He also spoke of another Shs6bn that has been provided to equip community polytechnics.
There is also another Shs500m that will go into equipping special needs schools. The National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) will get an additional Shs500m to roll out Lower Secondary Curriculum. The PTCs will get an additional Shs800m for the improvement of teaching practice in all Primary Teachers Colleges (PTCs). There is also another Shs5.47bn that has been allocated for retooling and capacity building programs.
– Advertisement –Some of the areas that will realize additional funding include Shs130bn going into the wage bill for the Centers of Excellence schools, BTVET institutions. The remainder of the money will go into grant-aiding of secondary and primary schools; recruitment and confirmation of head teachers and deputy head teachers that have been serving in acting capacity besides payment of pending pension and gratuity obligations.
