Ugandan children to get free schooling

by Kaitlin | February 19, 2007 at 01:37 pm

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Hopefully this will set a precedent for other African nations currently struggling to keep their young people educated. The lack of a "rush" to take up the offer most likely speaks more to adherence to the old system than anything else.

Ugandan children who got good marks in primary school last year are the first pupils to benefit from free education at many secondary schools.

Fewer than half Uganda's children go to secondary school, but about 100,000 children are expected to take part in the new scheme which started on Monday.

But a BBC correspondent in the capital, Kampala, said there was not a huge rush to take up the offer.

Donors have backed the move, which applies to some 1,000 schools.

This is the first such scheme in East Africa.

The Kololo High School in Kampala was expecting about 400 extra pupils - a 25% increase.

The headmaster told the BBC that he would either introduce "double-shifting" - with some students attending in the morning and the others in the afternoon - or increase class sizes.

One student, who said she wanted to be a nurse, said her family would not have been able to pay the fees without the government subsidy.

"I feel good because I have a chance to study," she said.