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Uganda offers free schooling
12/01/2007 08:27 - (SA)
Kampala - Uganda will start offering free secondary education from next month in a move expected to double the number of pupils continuing their schooling, says a government official.
Buoyed by the success of its free primary education programme at getting poor children into school, Uganda had lined up more than 700 government and 300 private schools to take on primary school leavers wanting secondary education.
It was reported that last year, only 120 000 pupils finishing primary education carried over into secondary schooling.
Secondary education commissioner Yusuf Nsubuga said: "More than half the children leaving primary school have been left out of secondary school. Now they will have a chance to join the others and continue their education."
Nsubuga said: "The numbers will double with free secondary education."
Many children wanted to continue with their schooling, but their families were often unable to afford the fees - the average income in Uganda was about $300 a year.
The government had released 7.3 billion Uganda shillings ($4m) to launch its Universal Secondary Education programme, to be distributed between the participant schools.
The east African country of 27 million was one of the world's poorest, ranking 145th on the United Nations Human Development Index - which measured income, education and life expectancy - out of 177 countries.
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