THE DAY THE GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA REALIZES THAT ITS SPONSORSHIP AT UNIVERSITY HELPS THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD...

The sponsorship of students with the best passes to Government Universities in Uganda is unfortunate given that majority of these are from the well to do families, and yet it ia also true that cheating by some of the excelling schools has for a number of years been the norm, which now calls for admission exams to some course as many of the excelling students don't measure up to the expectation. The Uganda Government needs to improve facilities for education which are subsidized by the privately sponsored students as of now, then it will be possible to lower tuition fees so that many students can afford. William Kituuka Kiwanuka NAMUGONGO, KITENDE TOP GOVERNMENT ADMISSIONS By PATIENCE AHIMBISIBWE & ABDU KIYAGA Posted Saturday, May 26 2012 at 15:42 Kampala The central region continued its traditional dominance in admissions on government sponsorship to public universities, a final admission list released on Friday by the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board indicates. The list had at least 3,000 students admitted on merit, nearly half of those (1452) students came from schools within the central region while the rest of the regions shared the remaining students. With 282 students admitted to benefit from government sponsorship, St Mary’s Kitende took the lions share followed by Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo which came to second place with 120 students admitted. The revelations are similar to last year’s compilation with the two schools still dominating the lists with 218 and 92 students admitted respectively. It is also the third time in a row that the school has dominated the lists. The new academic year (2012/2013) begins in August for all the five public universities; Makerere, Kyambogo, Gulu, Busitema and Mbarara. Traditionally the top schools also top the private admissions released shortly after the government sponsorship lists are released. The admissions, however, are likely to reignite debate on the imbalanced nature of education in the country that tends to favour schools in one part of the region while neglecting others which are in hard to reach areas. LIST OF ADMISSIONS ON GOVERNMENT SPONSORSHIP SCHOOL NUMBER ADMITTED ST MARY'S SS KITENDE 282 UGANDA MARTYRS S.S., NAMUGONGO 120 MENGO SECONDARY SCHOOL 81 NTARE SCHOOL 68 NAALYA SEC. SCHOOL ,KAMPALA 61 ST MARY'S COLLEGE, KISUBI 56 KAWEMPE MUSLIM SS 53 NABISUNSA GIRLS' SCHOOL 50 SEETA HIGH SCHOOL 50 BWERANYANGI GIRLS' SCHOOL 48 LUBIRI SECONDARY SCHOOL 46 MAKERERE COLLEGE SCHOOL 45 GOMBE SECONDARY SCHOOL 43 KING'S COLLEGE, BUDO 43 MASAKA SECONDARY SCHOOL 43 MBARARA HIGH SCHOOL 42 BP CYPRIAN KIHANGIRE SS LUZIRA 37 MANDELA S S, HOIMA 36 BUDDO SEC. SCHOOL 34 IMMACULATE HEART GIRLS SCHOOL 34 NAMIREMBE HILLSIDE S.S. 33 TRINITY COLLEGE, NABBINGO 32 MT.ST.MARY'S, NAMAGUNGA 30 NAMILYANGO COLLEGE 30 GAYAZA HIGH SCHOOL 29 VALLEY COLLEGE SS, BUSHENYI 28 KIBULI SECONDARY SCHOOL 25 NDEJJE SECONDARY SCHOOL 24 NAALYA SSS 23 SEETA HIGH SCHOOL-MUKONO 21 MERRYLAND HIGH SCHOOL 19 OURLADY OF AFRICA SS NAMILYANGO 19 KIIRA COLLEGE, BUTIKI 17 NAMAGABI S S 17 ST.JOSEPH'S S S, NAGGALAMA 17 BISHOP'S SEC. SCHOOL, MUKONO 16 KYAMBOGO COLLEGE SCHOOL 16 MITYANA MODERN SS 15 ST.MARY'S COLLEGE, LUGAZI 15 HILTON HIGH SCHOOL 14 IGANGA SECONDARY SCHOOL 14 ST.ANDREA KAHWA'S COL., HOIMA 14 ST.MARY'S COLLEGE, RUSHOROZA 14 CENTRAL COLLEGE, MITYANA 13 NTUNGAMO HIGH SCHOOL 13 TESO COLLEGE, ALOET 12 TURKISH LIGHT ACADEMY 12 ST HENRY'S COLLEGE, KITOVU 10 ST.PETER'S S S, NSAMBYA 10 BLESSED SACREMENT SS KIMAANYA 9 BRILLIANT HIGH SCH. KAWEMPE 8 CENTENARY HIGH SCH, NYENDO 8 OLD KAMPALA SECONDARY SCHOOL 8 ROYAL GIANT H.S 8 ST JOSEPH OF NAZARETH HIGH SCHOOL 8 ST.PETER'S COLLEGE, TORORO 8 ST.MARY'S VOC SCH, KYAMUHUNGA 8 BULOBA HIGH SCHOOL 6 CLEVERLAND HIGH SCHOOL 6 CRESTED SEC. SCHOOL, KAMPALA 6 BISHOP COMBONI COL., KAMBUGA 5 BUDINI SECONDARY SCHOOL 5 DR. OBOTE COLLEGE, BOROBORO 5 BP.CYPRIAN H.SCHOOL KYABAKADDE 4 BUKOYO SECONDARY SCHOOL 4 BULO PARENTS S S 4 GREENFIELDS HIGH SCHOOL IGANGA 4 BUSOGA COLLEGE, MWIRI 3 BUSOGA HIGH SCHOOL 3 BWERA S. S. 3 EAST HIGH SCHOOL, KAMPALA 3 ENTEBBE SECONDARY SCHOOL 3 GAYAZA ROAD SECONDARY SCHOOL 3 ALLIANCE SECONDARY SCHOOL 2 BILAL ISLAMIC SEC. SCHOOL, BWAISE 2 CHRIST THE KING SEC. SCHOO 2 CITIZEN'S SECONDARY SCHOOL 2 CITYLAND COLLEGE, MATUGGA 2 GRACE HIGH SCHOOL 2 ATLAS HIGH SCHOOL 1 BALIBASEKA SS 1 BAPTIST HIGH SCHOOL, KITEBI 1 BASAJJABALABA SEC. SCH. 1 BETHANY HIGH SCH. KAMPALA 1 BISHOP NKOYOYO SS, MATALE 1 BOMBO SECONDARY SCHOOL 1 BP. ANGELO NEGRI COLLEGE, GULU 1 BRETHREN MEMO SCH. MATUGGA 1 BRIGHTWAY HILL SCH, BUKESA 1 BROADWAY HIGH SCHOOL KAMPALA 1 BUBANGIZI S S 1 BUGWERE HIGH SCHOOL 1 BUKEDEA LIFELINE SEC SCH 1 BURYANSUNGWE S S 1 BUSIA TRUST S S 1 BUTSIBO S S 1 CALTEC ACADEMY, MAKERERE 1 CITIZEN'S HIGH SCH., MBARARA 1 CITY HILL COLLEGE, MUTUNDWE 1 CRANE H S, KITINTALE 1 EXCELL SEC. SCH. MUKONO 1 GOOD SHEPHERD HIGH SCHOOL 1 GREENHILL ACADEMY, KAMPALA 1 GREENLIGHT HIGH SCH., KAMPALA 1 GULU SECONDARY SCHOOL 1 editorial@ug.nationmedia.com WHY UGANDA GOV'T SPONSORSHIP SCHEME IS ALIENATING THE POOR By Brian Bwesigye The release of the final admission list for government sponsorship courses in Ugandan public universities causes anxiety in every applicant’s heart. Every Ugandan citizen who studied their Advanced Level from Uganda at least felt the adrenaline rush on hearing the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board announcement in their time. As the years go by, the news does not change widely. The central region always has the top schools. This year, the region has the top 23 schools with the highest number of students admitted to the five public universities of Makerere, Kyambogo, Busitema, Mbarara and Gulu. Reports say that St Mary’s Kitende has the highest number of students entering university on government sponsorship with 218, while Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo has 92 and is second to Kitende. It is obvious that the education sector in Uganda is one of the most imbalanced according to region. But that to me is not the only concern. I am concerned that the schools from which a bulk of the government sponsored students has come from are not cheap schools. In fact, the school fees at some of these schools are equal, or even more, or slightly less than university fees. It thus follows that a student whose parent can afford the fees for one of these schools can also afford university fees. Let us take a look at the top ten schools as regards admission numbers on government sponsorship this year. St Mary’s Kitende, Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo, Mengo Secondary School, Kings College Buddo, Nabisunsa Girls’ School, Gombe SS, Masaka SS, Kawempe Muslim, St Mary’s Kisubi and Naalya SS all charge school fees that on average exceed the UGX 500.000/= mark. The amount above is unaffordable by the average peasant who survives on subsistence agriculture on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. Yet this peasant’s son and daughter are expected to compete for the same government scholarship as the student whose secondary school fees almost equal university school fees. Annoyingly, some of the students and their parents who have been admitted on government sponsorship sometimes are uncomfortable with the courses they have been admitted to study. As we have seen, since they can afford to pay for themselves anyway, they opt out of the government scholarship scheme and pay for the courses they want. By this time, it is too late for the same places to be advertised for the peasant students to apply to, after all the peasant student has no choice of course, they will do any course for which the government can pay. The peasant definitely cannot afford to pay for any course and therefore has no choice but to forget about the dream of university education. The realistic option would be tertiary education, for the peasant student. The National Teachers’ Education, Uganda College of Commerce, Agricultural colleges etc are probably the most viable option for the peasant. This option is also not as attainable as it sounds, especially considering the limited opportunities for government sponsorship at that level. There is that student who will forget about further education simply because they cannot afford. Some manage to squeeze into the university with the assistance of a huge loan that will put any property their family possesses at risk. At university, they will be the last to pay the university dues, always negotiating to be allowed to sit exams and hand in coursework before paying. This in itself affects their academic performance. Some and these are many; amazingly perform well, better than their counterparts on government sponsorship. Some government sponsored students sometimes even abandon the course or are dismissed for dismal academic performance. In my view, the government sponsorship scheme at university is a case of adding onto those who already have and taking the little from those who do not have. The results that are considered in awarding government sponsorship in my view do not reflect the brilliance and academic merit of students but rather the cost of the education they get. To understand this, the rates of school fees paid at the schools that take the largest batch of students on government sponsorship should be analyzed in view of the academic performance of the same students at university. That will offer an insight into the injustice that government sponsorship does to the merit system of the country