Parents advised to buy meals for pupils
Mr Matia Lwanga Bwanika (in tie) greets a beneficiary of the sponsorship programme . PHOTO BY martin ssebuyira
Wakiso.
District chairman Matia Lwanga Bwanika yesterday asked parents to support government-sponsored universal educational programmes in order to benefit from them.
Lwanga, who was officiating at an award ceremony where 2,339 economically disadvantaged students in Wakiso received scholarships from MasterCard Foundation and Brac said parents should support teachers who advise them to buy meals for their children.
“The fact is government does not have sufficient funds to fully cater for the students that necessitates parents to, at least, buy some meals for their pupils,” Mr Lwanga said at the district headquarters yesterday.
He said parents reach the extent of reporting teachers who ask them for meals to either RDCs or police and are arrested which makes their pupils not learn and fail at the end of the day.
He applauded Brac and MasterCard foundation for the scholarships which will enable the underprivileged access quality education saying he feels embarrassed because this is what the leaders would have been doing.
Brac is a development organisation founded in Bangladesh in 1972 to create opportunities at scale as a means to end poverty while MasterCard Foundation is an independent global organisation that creates opportunities for all people to learn and prosper.
Scholarships awarded
Mr Abul Kashem Mozumder, Brac country representative, said a total of 2,339 academically bright students coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were selected for full sponsorships at different levels.
“More than 500 were awarded scholarships for Senior One and Senior Five in 2013 while 1,740 received scholarships for 2014 in Senior One and Senior Five. All students are placed in top schools,” he said.
He said the programme is comprehensive and unique covering tuition, Shs 50,000 pocket money per month, transport, learning materials like counter books, pens, school bags, mathematical sets, pencils, dictionaries, scientific calculators, graphic books, graded readers, art books and sanitary pads for girls.
