ISO Spies Deployed For UPE Headcount
More than 200 operatives from the Internal Security Organization – ISO were deployed on Wednesday to conduct a national school headcount of students under Universal Education program.
The operatives are part of a team assigned by ministry of education and sports to ascertain the number of pupils and students under the government sponsored program. A senior education official, who spoke to the media on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to talk to press, says the head count is the latest attempt by the ministry to weed out ghost pupils and students.
He said the operatives are expected to peruse through all the school registers to confirm attendance and admission books. He said senior One and Senior Five students are expected to carry their PLE recommendation letters and UCE result slips respectively. He said the data will help the government for planning and budgetary allocations in the next financial year.
He says the ISO operatives were deployed to check on some of other government officials who are compromised by the head teachers to make false declarations.
Francis Lubanga, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Of Education confirms the involvement of ISO operatives the students and pupil’s head count exercise.
He said each year government conducts a headcount to get rid of ghost students and pupils as it plans for capitation grants for the following financial year. He said the exercise will be carried out in more than 1,492 USE implementing schools, technical and vocational education institutions.
In 2009 President Museveni appointed a commission of inquiry into UPE following public complaints about the alleged mismanagement of free education funds.
Led by Justice Ezekiel Muhanguzi, the commission found out that there were at least 82,000 ghost students in 823 Universal Primary and Secondary Education institutions surveyed.
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