Six students from Kitagwenda District have secured full government scholarships to public universities under Uganda’s District Quota Scheme, marking a significant milestone for the district’s education sector.
Confirming the development, Kitagwenda District Education Officer (DEO) Sedas Asiimwe said the successful candidates were selected from three secondary schools including Buryansungwe, Nyakasenyi and Mahyoro secondary schools.
He explained that the students will pursue both science and arts programmes at public universities, including Makerere University and Kyambogo University.
The six include Doreen Nabaasa, Treasure Ainebyoona, Cynthia Tukundane from Buryansungwe SS, Erick Atwiine from Mahyoro SS Mary Nyakato and Evelyn Kyosiimire from Nyakasenyi SS.
Kitagwenda District Chairperson Efrance Kenyonyozi said the district executive committee verified the beneficiaries to ensure that they were genuine residents and students from the district before forwarding their names for admission.
She also challenged other schools in the district to improve academic performance so that more learners can benefit from the government sponsorship programme in the coming years.
The District Quota Scheme is an affirmative action initiative introduced during the 2005/2006 academic year to address regional and socio-economic disparities in higher education. It reserves 25% of government-sponsored admissions at public universities for students from underserved or historically disadvantaged rural districts.
Historically, government sponsorship was awarded strictly on national merit, which heavily favoured highly resourced urban schools. The quota system levels the playing field by offering academically capable rural students, who may have narrowly missed the competitive national cut-off points, the chance to pursue a university education.