Africa-Press – Uganda. The government is planning to make primary and secondary education free and compulsory, a Cabinet minister has said.
The Information and National Guidance minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, said the government is currently reviewing both primary and secondary education with a view to making it compulsory.
“We are reviewing primary and secondary education to explore whether there can be free and compulsory education. We take education as a very important service that must be accessed by all children of school going age,” he said.
Dr Baryomunsi revealed this while presiding over the 24th graduation ceremony of Ndejje University at the main campus in Luweero on October 14.
Dr Baryomunsi noted that despite the availability of free Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE), the school dropout rate was still high.
“Making education compulsory would retain such children in school,” he said.
The Global Childhood Report published by Save the Children recently reveals that one in every four Ugandan children is still out of school despite the progress made in implementing USE and UPE programmes.
The minister advised parents and guardians to endure hard economic times and educate their children at the highest level to lay a firm foundation for future careers.
“If man neglects education, he walks to the end of his life,” he said.
A total of 1937 students were awarded certificates, Diplomas, Degrees and PHDs in different disciplines. The Chancellor of Ndejje University, Dr Hannington Mutebi called for more government financial support to enable the university to partake in research and innovations.
Prof Eriabu Lugujjo, the Vice Chancellor of Ndejje University, said the number of female graduands has reduced from 52 percent in 2019 to this year’s 39.4 percent. He attributed this to the impact of Covid -19 that made it hard for many parents to raise tuition.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
