We want free education for all Ugandans- Museveni

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has reiterated his call to Ugandans to support the government's strategy of free education for all in government schools.

According to the President, this strategy has not been grasped by many actors, thus calling upon all the stakeholders to ensure that they follow up its implementation in the country.

“Our strategy was, how can we provide affordable education for all Ugandans because the schools we went to were schools for the elite where we had to pay money in the primary, in the junior schools and senior secondary. Those years the schools were few and the government was paying for us in the university,” the President said.

President Museveni who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, made the remarks on Sunday, September 1st 2024, while officiating at the closure of Mothers Union Buganda conference at Timnah schools in Luwero district.

“If we want all our children to study, we can no longer use the old method. The biggest saving was to go from the boarding schools to day schools in primary and senior secondary schools so that you cut out the cost of accommodation, feeding, paying for utilities and others,” he noted.

The President further added that the strategy only requires the government to set up the necessary infrastructure such as constructing classrooms, computer libraries, science laboratories, houses for teachers and paying teachers.

“This means once this is done, the parents remain with only buying the school uniform for the child and providing lunch. Once we have a strategy which can work, we are saying that day schools are the only way the government can afford to educate everybody because they’re cheaper for the government,” President Museveni noted, adding that the continuous charging of fees in government schools increases school dropouts.

He gave an example of the 11 million children in primary schools who by the time they join secondary school, they are only 2 million.

“Now where are the 9 million children who are not in school? We need to have a consensus. We propose to have UPE and USE government schools as day schools so that the government can concentrate on the infrastructure, paying teachers and so on,” President Museveni said.

On the other hand, President Museveni congratulated the women for being true Christians who understand all the four dimensions of the Christian life like Jesus. These are; preach the gospel, work, heal the sick and feed the hungry as they contribute to living with purpose and aiming to promote transformation within their families, communities and the nation at large.

“This is exactly what you have been doing here. Therefore, I’m very happy about this awakening as a Christian because the Bible says: let your light shine before men so they see your good deeds and praise your father who’s in heaven- (Matthew 5:16). You cannot be a shining light in your village when you’re poor. Therefore, this is the mission of Christians, they should be the example in everything including the welfare of our families,” H.E Museveni stated.

He also informed the gathering that as an active member of the Scripture Union in the 1960s in the north Ankole where the church of Uganda is very strong, he liked most the story of the talents in the Bible (Matthew 25:14–30) which tells of a master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his servants according to their abilities and he was happy with the one who multiplied them and was rewarded.

“The advice of the NRM for a long time now has been about household incomes through the 4-acre model,” President Museveni noted, stressing that the model encourages diversification, with one acre dedicated to coffee cultivation, another to fruit growing, the third to food crops for household consumption, and the fourth acre to pasture for livestock. He added that at the backyard, a farmer can rear poultry, piggery and fish farming in ponds for those near swampy areas.

He encouraged Ugandans to take advantage of the government programs aimed at fighting poverty like the Parish Development Model (PDM).

“For every parish, we’re sending Shs100 million every year which means Shs500 million in 5 years. This is a lot of money. The idea is that you borrow and return after 24 months (2 years) and finish the loan in 36 months. So if it was coffee, you would have started harvesting. Whatever you would have grown would have started reaping. And all of you come from a parish somewhere but many of you don’t mind following up on what’s happening,” the President said, adding that the shs.1 million per family means 100 homesteads per parish per year and over 500 homesteads in 5 years if those that borrowed returned the money and is given to other homesteads.

He encouraged the Mothers’ Union to prioritise their needs and promised to buy for them a coaster bus in addition to shs 500 million to support their projects.

The 4-days conference gathered Women from six dioceses of Buganda region including Luwero, Mityana, Namirembe, Mukono, West Buganda and Central Buganda.

On her part, Maama Janet congratulated mothers upon organising a successful conference and underscored their importance in establishing stable families as safe havens for their husbands and children.

“God has honoured us with the mandate to raise children in His ways, as we instil in them Christian values, while equipping them with the necessary skills, to live socially and economically sustainable lives, within their communities. This is why this very relatable Conference theme drawn from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 is timely,” Maama Janet said.