18/01/2024
It's our privilege and honor to introduce to you one of the new project interventions that the Ministry of Education and Sports is undertaking to close the enrollment gap that exists between the Primary and Lower Secondary levels.
The Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP) is implemented by the Ministry of Education & Sports to increase access to lower secondary education, especially in the 13 Refugee Host Districts.
Currently, of over 10.7 Million Students enrolled in Primary Education (36%), only about 2 Million (30%) enroll in Lower Secondary. This is made worse by school drop-out rates. Welfare is the major reason for these variations, which reveals that secondary school enrollment drops with decreasing welfare. Variations in secondary completion rates persist across the country with Kampala (Central) having the highest completion rate of over 17%, while Karamoja (North-Eastern) has the lowest at over 4%.
In Total, 116 New Lower Secondary Schools will be built and furnished with Science and ICT laboratory equipment; and infrastructure in 61 schools in Refugee Host Districts improved, and new structures built. They too will be fully furnished, and Head Teachers and Teachers from both Private and Public Schools in the target districts will be trained to integrate ICT in Science.
With the enrollment rate of girls being lower, and yet their completion rates for Senior four being lower than that of the boys, at 40% and 36% respectively- according to the 2016 Education Management Information System (EMIS), USEEP has a component that aims at ensuring Safety and Protection of Children, especially girls.
To ensure Education for All, 86,000 refugees and host community school-aged children eligible for lower secondary education (ages 13-18) who have already completed primary school will receive Capitation Grants, Social and Emotional support. Those who completed Primary Education in other countries will be helped to obtain certification by UNEB to enroll in Lower Secondary in Uganda. Children with Special Needs too will be given materials to enable them to learn.
This Five-year project is funded by the World Bank- International Development Agency.