Announcement of Ten Million Dollars Education Credit in Uganda on April 19, 1967

\'.'I\','- I\ I. 0 1• ,It~,t >, ..... • INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (,~) 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 67/4 Subject: $10 million education credit April 19, 1967 in Uganda The International Development Association (IDA) an affiliate of the World Bank, has approved a credit equivalent to $10 million to Uganda for the expansion of secondary education. The credit will finance 70% of the cost of constructing and equipping 24 new general secondary schools and additional facilities for 15 exist- ing schools. As a result of the project 14,000 new places will be available for secondary school pupils. The decade 1955-65 witnessed a rapid increase in school enrollment in Uganda. • However, only 44% of the primary school population was in qualified schools in 1965, and less than 5% of the secondary school-age population, which is low compared with many other developing countries. The improvement of education has high priority in Uganda's Second Five-Year Plan, 1966-71, and the Central Government is incr~asing its allocation to education so that it will reach one-fifth of current expenditure by 1970. In addition, local authorities contribute to the co~ts of primary educa- tion. A survey of Uganda's need for skilled manpower was carried out in 1962/63 and an over-all manpower plan has been worked out by the Ceutral Planning Bureau. It has been estimated that between 1966 and 1972 Uganda will need a total output of 33,000 from secondary schools to meet manpower requirements. The project being assisted by the IDA credit will provide about 90% of the new places required to reach this goal. Moreover, the quality of the general secondary system will be improved: in addition to academic subjects, all the schools will offer practical • cousses, such as industrial arts, commerce, a~ciculture and home economics. Both at the 24 new general secondary schools to be constructed and at the 15 existing secondary schools where facilities will be added, the necessary furniture  - 2 - • and laboratory equipment will be provided and student hostels and staff houses \•;till be built. The schools will be located in all parts of Uganda. Most of the popula·· tion lives in rural areas and although many of them have a fairly high population density, the people are not concentrated in organized centers. It is now planned ,;-o provide secondary education in regions not hitherto served and rural schools serving large areas will form an important part of the expanded school system. Thin will require both boarding facilities and the provision of staff housing. As the n'Jmber of schools and urbanization increase and public transportation is provided, there will be a shift to day schools. Therefore, hostel space will be designed s0 as to be convertible later on into classrooms. For the purpose of administering and supervising the execution of the project un<l to assure necessary coordination with other agencies, the Government has estab- lLahed within the Ministry of Education a project unit to be headed by a project manager and staffed with two archi.tects and an accountant. The Government will aL::o • employ qualified architects to undertake the architectural and engineering services :ef'}uired. Construction work should be completed in 1970 and the schools in full use by J972. The total cost of the project is estimated at the equivalent of $14.3 million. The IDA credit will provide $10 million of this amount and the remainder will be financed by the Government of Uganda. The IDA credit will be for a term of 50 years. Repayment of the principal wi 11 br.gin on September 1, 1977, after a 10-year period of grace. Thereafter, 1% of the principal will be repayable annually for 10 years and 3% will be repayable annually for the remaining 30 years. The credit will be free of interest, but a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum on the amount withdrawn and outstanding will be made • to meet IDA's administrative costs.