Achieving EFA in Uganda: the Big Bang approach

During the 1970s and the 1980s political instability and economic mismanagement was succeeded by civil war, and education in Uganda survived only through community support for teachers and schools. The National Resistance Movement took over in 1986 and began the slow process of recovery, including establishing an Education Policy Review Committee in 1987 which established UPE as a goal and determined strategies to achieve it. Despite this, at the beginning of 1990s, the gross primary enrollment ratio was only 87%, basic inputs were lacking, and Ugandan households were paying too much for primary education. The President's decision in 1996 to remove fees for up to four children per family removed that burden and also sent a signal to people that education is important. An additional 2.3 million children (1.1 m girls and 1.2 m boys) responded immediately, bringing the total primary enrollment to 5.7 million in 1997. By 2001 total enrollment had reached 6.9 million. This experience demonstrates that financial constraints on the demand side were by far the most important reason for low primary enrollment prior to UPE.