Government is set to rehabilitate and expand dilapidated public secondary schools across the country.
The development was revealed by the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Gen. Moses Ali during a plenary sitting chaired by the Deputy Speaker Anita Among on Thursday, 28.
The Deputy Leader of Government Business, revealed that the Education Ministry, has prepared a project to repair and expand all government owned secondary schools, using conditional grants disbursed to schools before the onset of the second wave of COVID-19.
Gen Ali noted that the education ministry is aware of the state of disrepair in schools and is preparing a circular to guide local government accounting officers on how to guide disbursement of funds to schools.
Gen Ali, revealed that government will disburse funds in two phases, adding that schools will receive the second phase funds only after accounting for the first phase.
He told plenary that funds will be disbursed after schools have resumed and not as earlier requested by Bungokho County North MP, John Magolo , who had requested that schools be allowed to commence renovation works before resumption of classes.
Magolo’s concern was that as government plans to re-open schools in January 2022 as announced by President Yoweri Museveni in his September 2021 address, government schools in his constituency did not have accommodation facilities.
However, Ali noted that the existing expenditure guidelines only provide for utilisation of funds only when schools are open saying schools are now closed because of COVID-19.