Parliament has passed a motion demanding that government extends the District Quota Policy of scholarships to other lower institutions of learning.
The district quota scholarship was introduced by the government to help bright but financially disadvantaged students to access university education with the government hoping that once they finish studying, they would go and work in their home districts and address the manpower problem.
According to John Musinguzi, a member of the board who is in- charge of issuing admission letters, the beneficiaries are selected depending on their performance by a board that has a member from each of the public universities.
The number of students got from every district is based on the population of that district. For example, Kampala district has an estimated 1.7m people. This means it will get 23 slots while Wakiso with an estimate of 1.3m people gets 18 slots.
Selected students are sent to public universities such as Kyambogo, Makerere, Muni, Gulu, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Kabale, Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Busitema University, Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) and Soroti University, leaving lower learning institutions.
While appearing before the House during the plenary on Wednesday, Woman Member of Parliament Lamwo district, Lanyero Molly brought a motion asking the government to extend the district quota scholarship scheme to lower institutions.
Her motion was supported by several members who suggested that the government sponsorship scheme should be reviewed and reset to support the needy students other than supporting the best-performing students who are usually students from good schools with the ability to cater for their tuition.
This prompted the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to call Higher Education Minister Chrysostom Muyingo to explain why the scheme is not in lower institutions.
“The ministry would be comfortable with extending district quota system scholarships to lower institutions of learning, but that the system benefits a few students. Parliament needs to explore the loan scheme because currently, we have less money to do what you want,” said Muyingo.
Finally, the Speaker requested him to take up the suggestion of the members and the object of the motion.
“Discuss this matter in your Ministry and report back to the House,” said Kadaga.
The Minister promised to take up the issues as guided by the Speaker.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
