BY RAPHEAL LUBANGAKENE
At the 3rd National Health Professionals’ Education and Training and Health Care Conference that happened in Jinja on Thursday, Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, announced a complete education numeration set to begin on 7th April this year.
“The challenge of unreliable education sector statistics will soon be solved. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports, is set to conduct a comprehensive baseline education census for all schools and institutions from pre-primary to university starting on 7th April 2025,” said Ms Museveni. 
It is to ensure accurate reporting of student numbers in schools and training institutions across Uganda.
It has been discovered that many schools expand their learners numbers to receive higher capitation grants intended to support actual enrollment figures.
“The numbers of students that are reported are sometimes not even there. But they are reported so that those schools can receive funding for learners who are not there.
“In the Ministry of Education, we are going to go yet another round, and I am hoping and praying that perhaps this time, it will be the last time because we have been working, but we haven’t been successful,” explained Ms Museveni.
In the Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools, the capitation grants for each child enrolled is 20,000 shillings, and those with special needs are allocated 22,000 shillings.
But, when schools expand their enrollment figures by including ghost learners, they receive funding for them as well – and the government incurs losses in the process.
Yet, the funds lost on ghost learners would be used develop infrastructure, train teachers and provide other learning materials.
The Minister also warned institutions of data falsification for their own capital gains and advised that ‘citizens who steal from the government are stealing from themselves.’
