KAMPALA – The education ministry is reviewing a plan to involve the private sector in funding and management of a fledging but inadequately funded sports sector.
The Uganda national netball team managed to qualify for the World Cup amid financial difficulty. PHOTO/Mpalanyi Ssentongo
The ministry’s annual budget for sports is about sh6b annually, which is shared by the ministry’s sports department, National Council for Sports (NCS) and institutions, especially universities.
A portion of the budget goes to payment of wages, leaving a small sum for activities such as training and establishment of sports facilities, officials revealed.
The state minister for higher education, John Chrysestom Muyingo, during the ministry’s sector review meeting in Kampala on Friday said the private players had potential to seal the funding gap.
“Every time we say there is no money to fund sports, and it is true sports is very expensive. But there are many sympathizers who are interested but are not involved,” said Muyingo.
“What we need is aggressiveness in the sports department. We need to involve other stakeholders like business community in the management and funding of that department.”
The commissioner for education planning and policy analysis, Godfrey Dhatemwa said increase in funding for sports would be considered during discussions on the budget framework paper.
The education and sports ministry’s annual budget is about sh1.9 trillion. Dhatemwa explained that a large part of the budget goes to wages, leaving a small budget for items such as sports.
“In our planning and budgeting meeting in November, we will first consider salaries, capitation grants. We will then try and make sure that sports is also given a priority.”
Last week, Parliament paid tribute to the national netball team – the She Cranes – for qualifying for the World Cup, after braving financial challenges during their matches in Gaborone, Botswana.
The Ugandan team had left for a week-long tournament with only $240 (sh600,000). Members of Parliament bailed out the team with return air tickets.
It also emerged that the team was then fed and accommodated in Botswana on a credit arrangement with a hotel.
The state minister for sports, Charles Bakkabulindi made a passionate appeal for increased funding for the sports department and adequate time for sports activities in schools.
“People perceive sports in school as just a means for children to achieve physical fitness, but sports is a vehicle for identifying talent and must be given priority,” he said.
Education experts at the meeting agreed on the proposal to enforce compliance of schools to respect time for co-curricular activities through regular supervision.
By Taddeo Bwambale, The New Vision
