Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, has advised Ugandan parents to stop fighting for the few places in expensive and highly-ranked schools, but to instead consider taking their children to any school, including the rural ones.
Minister Tumwebaze, who attended local schools but managed to secure admission to university on national merit, says it is high time parents realized that children can excel in any school, including the so-called ‘third world’ or poor rural schools.
Noting that there was unnecessary pressure for parents to secure their children admissions to top schools, Tumwebaze also said that a number of people were seeking his help and that of others in order to get places in the highly ranked schools.
“I get so much bothered by this pressure from all sections asking for help to secure vacancies for children in the “highly ranked” Schools (Kisubi, Ntare, Namagunga, Gayaza etc). I honestly don’t like this; First, as a person who studied from the most rural schools considered to be third world and yet managed to pass and get university admission on merit, I believe that a child can excel from any school whether at Kisubi, Rwamwanja or Kazo where I studied from. We need to guide our people to stop this craving from the so called “high ranked” Schools,” wrote Tumwebaze.
The minister, who is also the Kibale East MP, is proposing changes in the admission process. He wants the Ministry of Education and Sport to encourage or even compel schools to have an online application system so as to have a transparent process and deal a blow to those who have made it a habit to solicit or give bribes for admission forms.
“Second, the system for selections/admissions to government schools whether “high or low ranked” should be reformed and made more transparent. It shouldn’t be anymore at the discretion of head teachers. An online IT education management system can best solve this to remove human interference,” proposed Tumwebaze.
“Schools will set their cut offs and the maximum numbers they want. Then the online system will sort out all the applicants for each school as per the set qualification parameters. Human bias, lobbying, alleged bribery etc will all be eliminated.”
Some Ugandans were left shocked after the list of how much fees top schools were charging Senior One students was published. (See Uganda’s most expensive schools and how much they will charge each Senior One student for First Term HERE).
Are you a parent who is still looking for a vacancy in a good school for your Senior One or your Senior Five Son or Daughter? Try this school which offers high quality education at affordable fees HERE.
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