{UAH} Uganda: MPs Want State Scholarship Beneficiaries Bonded

Uganda: MPs Want State Scholarship Beneficiaries Bonded

BY MOSES WALUBIRI AND CYPRIAN MUSOKE, 25 OCTOBER 2013

The age old tendency of beneficiaries of state scholarships boarding the next plane in search of greener pastures upon completion of their studies is set to come to a close if a proposal by legislators on the Education Committee to bond them gets enshrined in a new Bill tailored to streamlining government funding of higher education.

The Higher Education Studies Financing Bill, 2013 is in the final stages of drafting at committee level before eventual debate and approval by the House.

The piece of legislation is expected to streamline the mooted students' loan scheme to be awarded to needy students, besides a special category of scholarships to eligible students pursuing studies in fields deemed "critical to national and economic development."

In a meeting with MPs over a string of amendments to the Bill, Minister of Education Jessica Alupo, with State Minister for Education John C. Muyingo, agreed to have the issue of bonding such beneficiaries to be referred to cabinet for consideration.

Responding to remonstrations by MPs led by former Attorney General Khidu Makubuya about the rationale of letting fresh graduates -engineers, doctors and nurses - leave the country after getting trained using the public purse, Alupo initially knocked back the idea of bonding such beneficiaries on account of financial and legal implications.

Alupo noted that with the high number of graduates being churned out of universities amid an equally high unemployment rate, bonding fresh graduates on state scholarships might expose government to costly litigation.

"It's okay to bond beneficiaries of state scholarships, but I am weary of litigation and government getting accused of condoning discrimination in the job market through giving preference to people it has trained," Alupo said.

Earlier, Muyingo and the Coordinator of the Students Loan Task Force Michael Wanyama had too labeled the idea untenable.

In the same meeting, the committee shot down a proposition by Susan Amero to have the student loan cover the entire financial requirements of each beneficiary reasoning that it will limit the number of beneficiaries given the inelastic resource envelope.

The loan is set to be limited to tuition fees, research and internship fees and functional fees leaving accommodation and meals out of its ambit.

Beneficiaries of students' loans will repay them with reasonable interest to enable creation of a revolving fund to benefit other needy students.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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