Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, has called upon the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development to reconsider the capitation grant allocated to government-aided primary schools.
During plenary on Tuesday, Ssenyonyi stated that the current grant of Shs20,000 per pupil per annum is inadequate, particularly for Universal Primary Schools (UPE), which rely on these funds for procuring essential instructional materials.
Ssenyonyi said concerns about the delayed disbursement of the grant, have led to schools struggling to open for the new term due to financial constraints.
He insisted that the importance of timely allocation to ensure smooth operations and quality education delivery.
“A number of these schools don’t have laboratories, some of these students meet test tubes and bunsen burners for the first time in the final exam. We have also seen the performance deteriorate in gov’t aided schools” he said
Additionally, Hon. Laura Kanushu raised alarm over the lack of learning materials for pupils with disabilities in government-aided schools. She said this has a detrimental impact on the academic performance of learners with special needs and called for urgent action to address this disparity.
In response, Minister of State for Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Hon. Henry Musasizi, attributed the delays in grant release to administrative bottlenecks at the local government level. He assured that the government had already disbursed Shs134 billion in the third quarter for the capitation grant, with efforts ongoing to expedite the process.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa asked the minister to provide a comprehensive statement on the issue of funding for government-aided schools, particularly for pupils with disabilities.