Education Sector Strategic Plan 2004-2015 - Planipolis

Final ESSP
mobility of students among disciplines and institutions without loss of earned work.
This integration will also make more attractive other institutions within the Ministry
of Education and Sports and those institutions transferred in 1998 from the
ministries of Labour and Social welfare; Health; Tourism, Trade and Industry; Land,
Water and Environment; Agriculture, Information, and Public Service, as they will
allow learners to move among institutions.
(b) Develop facilities to cope with rapidly increasing numbers
The UPE bulge will reach the tertiary sub-system in about 2010, and together with a
steady growth in population and the macro-economic success of Uganda since 1990,
it will result in increased demand for higher education. The Ministry will rehabilitate
existing and construct new facilities, including an Open University and a university
in the East, to meet this demand. It will also encourage the private sector to offer
programs in higher education.
(c) Establish a liberalized financing mechanism and diversify the resource base
The Ministry uses public funds to subsidize Makerere and other universities.
Because of the academic independence of these institutions and the mingling of
public and private funds, it is extremely difficult to account for how public funds are
spent. To address this problem, the Ministry will direct a higher portion of funds to
students rather than institutions, allowing it to specify the disciplines in which these
funds are focused (science and technology). This change will also make the market
for higher education more demand-driven by allowing students to enter the public or
private institution that offers courses that meet their needs, thus leading to better
quality and more attractive programs. In addition, the Ministry plans to de-link
accommodation and tuition fees and allocate more funding toward tuition, thus
partially financing the cost of education for more students. It will also test the
feasibility of a student loan scheme, which would allow even more students to
finance their own education.
3.1.2 Objective 2: Students achieving education goals
Sub-objective 2.1: Primary-level pupils mastering basic literacy (reading and
writing), numeracy, and basic life skills
Strategies
(a) Improve the instructional processes that lead to students' achievement of
literacy, numeracy, and basic life skills
This high-priority strategy comprises five major interventions/undertakings:
(i) The focus will be on helping pupils learn to read and write (literacy) and to
master basic arithmetic and practical mathematics (numeracy). This will take a
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