UPE funding cuts leave Budaka schools on the brink

Headteachers in Budaka District say the reduction in funding for the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme has affected the smooth running of the schools.

Budaka, found in Bukedi Sub-region, has 59 government-aided primary schools that are implementing the UPE programme.

The headteachers say most schools have witnessed a slash in the UPE funding despite the overwhelming numbers of learners.

For instance, Kamonkoli Mixed Primary School, which has more than 1,000 learners, is meant to receive Shs8 million each quarter of the financial year but currently receives Shs6 million over the same period.

Namirembe Boarding Primary School with 2,312 learners is meant to get Shs13 million but instead gets Shs12 million.

Budaka Family Helper Project Primary School with 2,411 learners is supposed to get Shs16 million but instead gets Shs12 million while Bwibere Primary School, with an enrolment of 1,006 learners receives Shs1.7 million instead of Shs6m.

The government pays Shs20,000 per year for each child, implying that each term or quarter, the government pays about Shs6,000.

The headteacher of Namirembe Boarding Primary School, Mr Samuel Wakholi, said on Saturday that the anomaly resulted from the Ministry of Education head count, which never considered pupils who were absent in the respective schools.

“The team that conducted the physical head count didn’t consider those absent. The figure that was captured is what is being considered for UPE release yet at my school, physical head count registered 2,208 learners, implying that 109 learners were absent,” Mr Wakholi said.

The headteacher of Budaka Family Helper Project Primary School, Mr Eriya Poli, said their population is 2,411 learners but the physical head count only registered 2,208 learners.

“By the time the physical head count was conducted the primary one and two classes had completed their exams and the majority were at home. More than 200 learners were not counted,” Mr Poli said.

The District Education Officer, Mr Paul Higenyi, said the timing of the headcount was wrong because the majority of the learners had finished their exams.

“We had a good number of learners who were absent from school when the exercise was being conducted. These absentee learners were not considered at all. This greatly affected schools in terms of UPE funds,” Mr Higenyi said “We cannot have 100 percent attendance in schools but unfortunately the head count team did not take a chance to look at the school registers,” he added.

Some district officials further said during crop harvesting time, especially along the rice cultivation belt, children tend to stay home.

The Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Richard Mugolo, said the district has set up a committee to carry out a physical head count and make a comparison with the figures captured by the ministry.

“However, I urge the headteachers not contented with the physical headcount to write to be considered for re-verification of learners,” he said.