Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) is very much concerned about the national challenge which the just concluded senior one selection in Kampala for 2024 caused, leaving out over 130,000 candidates un-admitted out of 648,662 eligible candidates to join secondary education.
The revelation was made during a Press Conference at the UPC Head Office on Uganda House in Kampala on Wednesday.
“This is heart-breaking to the parents, candidates and the school authorities who have worked very hard since 2016 to complete the seven year-cycle of primary education”, said UPC in a statement read by Mr. Muzeyi Faizo, the Party’s Head of Media and Communications.
Mr. Muzeyi said UPC makes a serious observation that to have Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) is a good under-taking.
“However, their funding should be given a top priority in order to mitigate and absorb the highly increasing number of students. It is always better to plan for optimum facilities so as to ensure their maximum utilization as opposed to under planning and get caught up at the tail end of the cycle like the situation at hand”, adds the UPC statement.
The Party noted that most of the secondary schools are decrying under staffing of teachers and insufficient facilities to accommodate a big number of students, thus admitting only those which they can manage.
Mr. Muzeyi pointed out that; UPC urges the government to first track the building of prefabricated classrooms, laboratories and dormitories while at the same time, the Ministry of Public Service should embark on urgent recruitment of teachers.
“This should be based on already existing schools with space for expansion as it is economically friendly since such schools are operational”, he said.
He added that; UPC is calling upon Government to renew her partnership with potential private schools as it is the case with universities, to absorb the stranded candidates as well as promoting technical, vocational education and training institutions as options for primary seven leavers to undertake a wider range of vocational skillful courses such as; welding and metal fabrication, plumbing, textile, carpentry, motor vehicle mechanics, brick laying and agriculture among others.
“The hands-on skills or practical training at such a stage is very vital as the country is in shortage of such trained man-power at lower ranks, yet the world is increasingly getting more competitive with advancement in science and technology, leading to innovations and increased productivity. Let Uganda build it up from there to be in line with Build Uganda Buy Uganda (BUBU)”, further explains the UPC statement.
Regarding the passing on of Namibian President, H.E Dr. Hage Geingob, UPC statement says; this is indeed very unfortunate to lose such a great leader who was very active in the de-colonization and independence struggle of Namibia, whose country then was under the mandate of the apartheid South Africa.
“Since 1990 when a young Namibia gained her Independence, there has been remarkable unity, stability, peace and progress which should be emulated. We salute Namibia for deepening democracy, governance, constitutionalism and development. This is giving a great hope to Namibia and Africa that it is possible to have a smooth political transition from one leader (President) without shading blood”, reads the UPC statement.
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