Parliament’s Education Committee has learnt that 23 billion Shillings that was recently recalled from the various districts has been earmarked for the procurement of more learning materials for pupils.
State Minister for Higher Education John Chrysostom Muyingo told the Committee yesterday that the money in question was capitation that remained unutilized by schools across the country during the COVID-19 lockdown.
He said it will now be used as additional funding on top of an earlier grant from the World Bank to support learning during the lockdown.
The Minister says that they have now procured and distributed materials for Primary Five to Primary Seven and Senior One to Senior Four learners, based on the funds availed from the World Bank as of December 2020.
Muyingo told MPs that the World Bank funds did not provide for classes of Primary One to Primary Four and Senior Five to Senior Six and that this is the reason his Ministry and that of Finance agreed to cover the gap with resources meant for capitation that remained unutilized.
Alex Kakooza, the Education Ministry Permanent Secretary says that recalling this money from Local Governments will not affect the capitation grant that ordinarily goes to schools.
Jacob Opolot, the Committee Chairperson directed that the Ministry avails the record of material distribution and details about procurement.
