New Vision

108 SUB-COUNTIES LISTED FOR NEW
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Dr Dennis Mugimba
BY MARTIN KITUBI
FREE EDUCATION
The second phase of building seed secondary schools in each sub-county will see over
250 new schools constructed across the country.
The number of government-owned and aided schools has increased over the years,
from just 96 in 1986 to over 1,200 now.
As part of the plan to have a secondary school in every subcounty without a

government-aided secondary school, 108 sub-counties have been shortlisted.
These will be constructed under the second phase of the Uganda Intergovernmental
Fiscal Transfer (UgIFT) programme.
According to sources, the education ministry’s top management organ, chaired by the
First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, has approved
the start of construction of the new seed secondary schools.
STAFF RECRUITMENT
The list obtained by New Vision indicates that the beneficiary sub-counties are from 97
districts spread across the country.
Once completed, the Government will recruit at least 31 teaching and support staff for
each of the seed secondary schools for starters.
This implies that the Government will have created at least 3,348 new jobs with new
schools.
In addition, each school is expected to have at least six classrooms, each

accommodating a minimum of 50 students.
This implies that the Government will have created classroom space that can
accommodate at least 32,400 secondary school students.
Documents seen by New Vision indicate that under UgIFT phase-II, some subcounties
that already have existing seed schools will be expanded in this phase to make them
complete in terms of the minimum infrastructure for a complete governmentaided
secondary school.
For Bugweri and Rubirizi districts, the documents indicate that they have not been
cleared to sign off contracts for constructing a seed secondary school each in Igombe
and Kichwamba subcounty respectively.
It is expected that 259 seed secondary schools will be expected to be constructed in

three phases over a period of five years. These include 117 schools in phase I, 115 in
phase II and 27 in phase III.
These were selected following a comprehensive mapping exercise by the education

ministry in 2015, which revealed that 385 sub-counties did not have secondary schools.
However, with the creation of new districts, the ministry said new units had come into
existence. Consequently, a new mapping exercise will be required to establish the
number of subcounties without seed schools.
The ministry will also construct and equip 418 laboratories in existing secondary
schools that are without functional laboratories. The programme will also cover the
construction of incomplete structures in 21 technical schools and polytechnics.
According to the ministry plan, a full package of a seed secondary school under this
programme will have eight completed facilities, including a multipurpose hall, three
twounit classroom blocks and an administration block.
‹‹ It is expected that 259 seed secondary schools will be constructed in three phases
over a period of five years.
It will also have a fully equipped two-unit science block with science kits and chemical
reagents, one library/ ICT block, a two-unit teachers’ house, three two-unit teachers’
kitchens, and a two-stance VIP latrine block for administration.
The schools will also have three two-stance VIP latrine blocks for teachers, a fivestance
VIP latrine block for boys and another for girls.
It will also have a fully equipped library, an ICT laboratory with 28 desktop computers,
a multi-purpose hall, a 5,000-litre water tank, and a football pitch.
WHAT THE MINISTRY SAYS
Dr Dennis Mugimba, the education ministry spokesperson, confirmed that the

ministry has approved the construction to start.
“Yes, as part of the conditions for the construction to start is that the local
governments must provide land for these schools,” he said.
The ministry requires all beneficiary local governments to provide proof of land
ownership as a prerequisite for benefiting under the second and third phases of UgIFT.
Where land titles are not available, it is a requirement for the local governments to sign
a standard memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the donor of the land.
Among other things, the MOU commits the donor to transferring the land to the school
without conditions and commits the local government to titling the land in the
school’s name.
“We appeal to the local government’s leadership to ensure that we monitor the
execution of the construction work. It is everyone’s responsibility to monitor and see
that the contractors are executing projects according to plan,” the Ministry of
Education and Sports spokesperson said.
Mugimba explained that the choice of beneficiary sub-counties was arrived at in

consultation with the beneficiary local governments.
“The ministry requires all local governments to submit an extract of council minutes
selecting the earmarked subcounty,” he said.
This year alone, he revealed that a total of 93 seed secondary schools had been
commissioned and they were in use.
THE BACKGROUND
• The Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, has been implementing the
Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UgIFT) Programme since the financial
year, 2018/19. Over a disbursement period of five years, education is expected to receive
sh3.6b from the programme for the components of wage, non-wage and construction.
As of January 2022, the programme had disbursed sh1.674b to the ministry for the
implementation of the planned activities.
The UgIFT programme was designed using a hybrid modality which provides for shared
responsibilities between the central government and respective local governments.
The education ministry is responsible for advertising and support supervision, while
local governments are responsible for procurement, contract management, and daily
monitoring.
The programme is co-ordinated by several ministries, including finance, local

government, health, water and environment, works and transport as well that of
agriculture.

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108 SUB-COUNTIES LISTED FOR NEW

As part of the plan to have a secondary school in every subcounty without a

In addition, each school is expected to have at least six classrooms, each

It is expected that 259 seed secondary schools will be expected to be constructed in

These were selected following a comprehensive mapping exercise by the education

WHAT THE MINISTRY SAYS

Dr Dennis Mugimba, the education ministry spokesperson, confirmed that the

Mugimba explained that the choice of beneficiary sub-counties was arrived at in

The programme is co-ordinated by several ministries, including finance, local

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