Uganda needs $2bln to improve education system: World Bank

The World Bank has advised Uganda to pump out more funds in the field of education if East African country wants to develop human capital and sustain strong economic growth.

The World Bank said that Uganda needs about USD 2 billion of additional public funds till 2025 to ensure that all children complete primary schools and acquire basic literacy, numeracy and skills. The World Bank has revealed this in its latest edition of the Uganda Economic Update.

This financial need might be halved if solid education system improvement measures are implemented in line with best international experience, it said. "Such measures include providing better pre-primary learning opportunities for poor children, eliminating repetition and dropouts, reducing the number of subjects taught at secondary schools, optimizing teacher workload," the report cited.

Compared with other countries in the east African country, Uganda spends only 2.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education, lower than 3.2 percent to 5.2 percent spent by Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, World bank revealed.

It recommended that Uganda increase public spending on education from current 10 percent of the national budget to the regional average of 16 percent by 2025.

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