The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Luweero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Over 400 private schools in Luwero are yet to register their learners on Education Management Information System despite the lapse of the deadline set by the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The Ministry of Education and Sports, working together with the National Identification and Registration Authority-NIRA rolled out the re-developed Education Management Information System (EMIS) in April 2022 with the aim of giving each learner a unique identification number.
The process, which is conducted in both public and private institutions is intended to, among other things, ease the tracking of the learners’ performance and improve data management in the education sector.
However, the largest section of Private Nurseries, Primary and Secondary schools in Luwero district are yet to capture and upload all learner’s data on the EMIS portal. The extended deadline for the exercise lapsed on January 31, 2023.
Patrick Kasajja, the Officer in Charge of the Education Management Information System at the Luwero District Education Office says that less than 200 out of 647 private schools in the district have been able to create accounts at the EMIS portal but have also uploaded partial information. Kasajja adds that the majority of the schools have not even attempted to create accounts due to a lack of computer skills, privacy and poor attitude.
Ibrahim Ntulagge, the Headteacher of Destiny Kids’ Primary School in Wobulenzi town says that registration is slow due to the lack of National Identity Cards by the parents because this is required during capturing of learners’ data.
Faith Nsamba, the Director of Wobulenzi Parents School faults this on the absence of sensitisation for teachers and parents. She explains that some parents are reluctant to share their National Identification Numbers because they are sceptical about the relevance of the exercise, yet they are required in the registration of learners.
Luwero District Education Officer Florence Bbosa says that although the deadline passed, the EMIS portal for the academic year 2022 is still open and allows users to add data. Bbosa says that she has since met the headteachers of private schools to ensure the data is uploaded before the EMIS portal is closed or face the consequences for failure to do so.
Meanwhile, the 230 Universal Primary Schools and 23 government-aided secondary schools have successfully been able to upload over 90 per cent of the required fields at the EMIS portal.
Recently the Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Ketty Lamaro directed that both public and private secondary school headteachers ensure that all senior entrants provide their Learner Identification Number (LIN) before they are admitted.
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