UPE boosts EA's targets in education

Pupils attend class inside a classroom of a UPE school in Uganda.

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The EAC Heads of State summit is taking place in Kampala this week. The EAC Heads of State will be expected to, among others, approve and sign the Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Monetary Union, the third Pillar of the EAC integration and development process.

By Vision Reporter

The five EAC member states have achieved the global target of gross enrollment in primary school, but the community still falls far short of the secondary education goal, according to the State of East Africa report, 2013.

The report launched last week notes that Secondary School enrolment is low, standing at 28% in Uganda, 49% in Kenya as most children do not make the transition to secondary school.

Uganda and Rwanda have the highest Primary School Leaving Exam pass rates while Tanzanian and Kenyan students produced the worst results in East Africa.

A far lower proportion (less than 30% in 2012) of Kenyan and Tanzanian Secondary School students pass their respective national exams compared to their peers in Rwanda and Uganda where more than 88% passed.

The report examines progress made towards inclusiveness and equity for regional integration to benefit citizens. It examines regional economic participation and how fruits of economic growth are shared amongst nationals.

It looks into the participation of citizens in the economy, the quality of regional institutions, economic and social drivers of inequality, the future of inequality in the region and agenda for policy engagement.

The report concludes that the EAC requires policies that will enable the poor people to participate in economic growth and have a share of income and wealth if the region is to transform. It notes that although there are well-articulated policies, there is no political will, which is impaired by weak capacity to implement policies.

There is need to improve the welfare of the poor and address challenges of food security for children and the quality of education. It calls for increase in the productive capacity of the region to promote product diversification, trade promotion and facilitation.

It also proposes regional Governments to invest in vocational training, skills development, technology transfer, supporting enterprise start-ups, scale-up including business incubation and incentives, market development and trade facilitation.

The report says that there is need to manage citizens’ growing expectations for better services delivered by Government amidst declining aid in Rwanda and Uganda.