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NIRA launches mass ID registration of pupils
What you need to know:
- Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the commissioner at the Directorate of Education Standards, reminded parents to take children to licensed schools. Dr Turyagyenda says that pupils and students who will miss out on the registration process will not be allowed to sit for final exams at different levels of education.
- Mbarara District Internal Security Officer Robert Nabimanya asked NIRA to ensure that enough staff is recruited to conduct the exercise so that the second term of school is not affected.
The mass registration of children aged between 5 and 16 for the national identity card project has been launched in Western Uganda.
The launch held at Mbarara oxford inn on Tuesday, was attended by leaders from 22 districts in western Uganda in preparation for the exercise which will cover all primary and secondary schools, across the country. The project will officially kick off on May 29 and end on August 25, 2017.
The registration is an undertaking by the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA), a government entity mandated to register births and deaths in the country and to develop a National Identification Register for both citizens and legal residents.
Mr Gilbert Kadilo, the NIRA Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Manager told this reporter that the exercise is aimed at capturing data of children in the age bracket that is not currently recorded in the national registry data bank.
The pupils will however not be given National Identity cards. Instead, they will be given a national identification number which will be used for the issuance of a National ID, once they turn 16. During the initial registration in 2014, the authority captured data for citizens aged above 16.
Mr Benon Mutambi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the registration will also support proper planning in schools where government has been losing Shs2 billion annually due to the presence of ghost pupils.
Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the commissioner at the Directorate of Education Standards, reminded parents to take children to licensed schools. Dr Turyagyenda says that pupils and students who will miss out on the registration process will not be allowed to sit for final exams at different levels of education.
Mbarara District Internal Security Officer Robert Nabimanya asked NIRA to ensure that enough staff is recruited to conduct the exercise so that the second term of school is not affected.
