The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, has urged lawmakers to permit the Ministry of Education and Sports to review the Education Policy Review Commission Report prior to its submission to Parliament.
This report was delivered to the Minister for Education and First Lady, Janet Kataaha Museveni, by former minister Amanya Mushega, who led the review commission.
The commission was established to assess the current state of Uganda’s education system and to recommend reforms that align it with both global standards and national requirements.
During the plenary session on February 11, 2025, MP Joseph Ssewungu from Kalungu West County expressed his concern regarding the lack of public access to the report.
“The report gives new changes to the education system, but we have not got a single copy as the Committee of Education. The Ministry of Education should provide Members of Parliament with the report because it is an open document,” he noted.
Ssewungu also called on the Ministry of Education and Sports to clarify the misleading narratives surrounding the report, which he claimed have confused public perception on the issue.
“You must keep your document confidential until it is the government leading paper that is giving information to the public,” Ssewungu added.
The Speaker however, guided that the report, in its current form being from a commission of inquiry requires the Ministry of Education and Sports to review it and prepare a White Paper.
“And it is this White Paper that translates into a policy which is then brought to Parliament for consideration. This is provided for under the Commission of Inquiry Act,” said Among.
Section 6 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, Chapter 166 states, in part that, “The commissioners shall, after taking the oath…make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the matter specified in the commission…report to the minister, in writing, the result of the inquiry…”
The State Minister for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo reiterated that the ministry is studying the report before it is rolled out to the public.
“Right now, we have established a technical committee that will advise government concerning the issues that have been raised by this report,” Muyingo said.
The report among others calls for expansion of the name of the Ministry of Education and Sports, to Ministry of Education, Sports and Training to enable the ministry offer more effective leadership for the evolving sector.
The report also proposes a merger of the functions of the National Council for Higher Education, the Directorate of Educational Standards, and the TVET Council into a National Education Standards and Quality Assurance body.
