Museveni to launch new book on 20 years of UPE

Kampala. President Museveni is today expected to launch a new book, recalling 20 years of Universal Primary Education (UPE). The book highlights the country’s historic journey and achievements of free education.
The book titled: Universal Primary Education: Transforming Uganda, will be launched in Tororo District as part of the events to commemorate the 33rd Nation Resistance Movement (NRM) Liberation Day celebrations.
The annual event is commemorated in remembrance of the day when NRM came to power in 1986.
The 222-page book details the successes and challenges of implementing UPE between 1997-2017.
The UPE programme is a major highlight of the contributions NRM has made over the years.
The book highlights the investments the NRM has made in the education sector, the increased enrolment and bridging the gender gap, among other things. Former and current architects of the programme, including ministers and permanent secretaries as well as some of the beneficiaries are featured in the book.
In his foreword, President Museveni explains that the ruling party has put education at the forefront of the programmes government is engaged in.
“From my experience as a battle-tested and battle-hardened freedom fighter, I strongly believe that it is in the best strategic interest of the country to have some education for all than education for some,” the president writes.
He likens UPE to the biblical mustard seed insisting that the seeds planted in 1997 have sprouted into development for Uganda and beyond.
President Museveni also debunks the argument that government allocation to the sector is still very low.
In the 1998/1999 financial year, a year after the implementation of UPE, he explains that the education sector was allocated 26.9 per cent of the National Budget which was at the time Shs1.5 trillion. In the FY2016/17, the education sector was allocated Shs2.4 trillion or 11 per cent of the total National Budget of 18.3 trillion.
“The principle here is that as our revenues improve, all sectors will receive more. Therefore, readers should appreciate that the 11 per cent of allocation today translates into much more money in nominal terms when compared to the 26.9 per cent that was historically allocated to the sector,” he says.
The First Lady and Education minister, Ms Janet Museveni, says UPE has had a spillover effect in terms of enabling other complimentary interventions in the education sector such as affirmative action for girls and increased enrolment at other levels of education.
“As we commemorate 20 years of accomplishment in respect to access to primary education through UPE, the programme still faces an uphill task, especially in the component of quality,” the minister says.
She adds: “We still have unacceptably high numbers of our children that are dropping out of school before reaching Primary Seven and teacher absenteeism. As a mother who also heads this sector, the inability of school-going children to have a packed meal while at school are major concerns for me.”