By John Kigozi
The government is planning to eliminate automatic merit-based scholarships at higher education institutions, responding to concerns that the majority of these scholarships end up benefiting children from affluent families, particularly those attending elite schools in urban areas such as Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso.
According to an article published by the Daily Monitor, the proposed changes are part of the new Higher Education Policy, which is still under review.
The policy suggests replacing the automatic scholarship system with a merit-based grant program. If implemented, the system will focus on supporting top performers at the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) level or its equivalent.
The proposal also includes a stipulation that students who qualify academically but attend schools where fees exceed UGX 3 million should be excluded from consideration.
In an interview with the Daily Monitor, Brigton Barugahare, Commissioner of the Education and Research Department, explained that if the draft policy is approved by Parliament, high-achieving UACE students will need to apply for financial aid instead of receiving scholarships automatically.
“We are shifting from government scholarships to grants, where students will have to apply for financial support. We are ending the practice of giving students what they do not want. Some students would be awarded scholarships for education courses but later switch to engineering, as their parents can afford the costs,” Barugahare was quoted as saying.
Public Response
The announcement has sparked a wave of reactions on social media, with many Ugandans expressing that this change has been overdue.
“Some parents take loans to pay fees in such schools because they know the kids stand a high chance of getting good grades for a good course and government sponsorship. You should be improving the quality of education in rural schools instead of cutting off those in urban schools,” a one Sandra Tuhairwe responded to a tweet on X.
Andrew Tumwine also mentioned “If they really wanted to make it fair why don’t they first handle the state house scholarship scheme does anyone know the criteria.”
“Although it makes sense, on ground you will find that some of the top scorers in those A schools were picked from rural areas as best students and given scholarships,” a one Noah ogellan reacted.
Another Twitter user named Roman Roy said this will be hard to control because at the end of the day parents can decide to educate their children from high end schools and register them to sit for finals in far and distant schools.
“Simple, put your kid in a high end school and register them from a local poor school. Scholarship secured.”
