On 08th June 2016, the Finance Ministers in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda delivered the respective budget speeches for their countries.
The statements outlines the progress of fiscal expenditure and revenue collection for 2015/2016, and then outline the expenditure plan for the new fiscal year which begins on 01st July 2016.
As the largest economy in East Africa, Kenya had the biggest budget at Kshs 2.05 trillion (US$ 20 billion) followed closely by Tanzania at Tzshs 29.54 trillion (US$ 13.51 billion), Uganda at UGX 26.3 trillion (US$ 7.9 billion) and Rwanda at RwF 1.95 trillion (US$ 2.6 billion).
Uganda
The Education budget allocation rose, from UGX 2 trillion to UGX 2.7 trillion for the 2016/2017 fiscal year.
Following persistent demands, Primary school teachers will see a 15 per cent increase in their salary, which constituted UGX 122 billion in the budget. A further UGX 78 billion will also go towards increase of Public University lecturers’ salaries.
The government recently rolled out projects for three public universities in Soroti, Lira and Kabale. The projects were allocated a total of UGX 14.09 billion.
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Kenya
In terms of allocation to the education sector, Kenya allocated Kshs 124.4 billion, amounting to 6.22 percent of the budget. A notable feature is the laptop project, which gets Kshs 13.4 billion. In his inaugural address in 2012, President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to distribute laptops to Primary School children in the country.
Kenya is in the midst of revising the education curriculum, aimed at creating a skills-driven economy.
Both free primary education and free secondary education projects will get Kshs 14 billion and Kshs 32 billion respectively. The recruitment and promotion of teachers will receive Kshs 4.5 billion, whereas Kshs 41.7 billion will go towards university education.
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Rwanda
The social sectors of health, education, justice, stability and food security were allocated 45% of the budget.
Earlier this year, the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Olivier Rwamukwaya, pledged Rwf100 per day per vulnerable student under the 12-Year Basic Education (12YBE) programme to cater for their lunch, starting with the first term of the 2016 academic year. However, this development has not materialised. The fiscal allocations for 2016/2017 will cover this specific venture.
Tanzania
A total of Tzshs 4.77 trillion has been allocated towards education, equivalent to 22.1 per cent of the overall budget excluding public debt service. The allocation has been made to address free basic education, higher education student loans, and construction and infrastructure at all educational levels.
Of the education budget, 45 percent is focused on higher education, compared to industry insiders’ directive that 80 percent be geared towards basic education.
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