Masaka clears 5 for quota scheme

MASAKA.

Masaka District has finally approved five names of beneficiaries for the 2016/17 district university quota scheme after rejecting the first names short-listed by Makerere University.

Mr Jude Mbabaali, the Masaka District chairman, said they carried out thorough verification that revealed that five of the seven students are residents of Masaka and eligible for the scheme.
“We have approved five of the seven names sent to us after establishing that they hail from Masaka,” said Mbabaali during a press conference last week.

Mr Mbabaali also disclosed that one of the shortlisted beneficiaries, Mourine Nalumanzi, could not be traced since her former head teacher at Masaka Secondary School did not bring her for verification.

However, the Masaka SS head teacher, Hajj Musa Mpungu, told Daily Monitor that the student had already been admitted to another university. The approved students include Bashir Buyondo, Godfrey Kizza and Phoina Namutosi enrolled for Bachelors of Business Statistics, Laboratory Science and Commerce respectively while Emmanuel Ssentongo and Constante Kirinya were both enrolled to pursue Bachelors of Education in Arts.

Districts of Masaka, Wakiso, Mbale, Kotido and Kamwenge had earlier disowned students who had been short-listed by the Ministry of Education until Makerere University sent a revised list to the respective districts. Makerere University had given an ultimatum of September 2, for district authorities to verify and submit the approved students.

A total 896 students are admitted on district quota system annually out of the 4,000 sponsored by government in public universities.