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Enrollments and expenditures increased steadily
during this time, reflecting the high priority Ugandans attach to
education, but at all levels, the physical infrastructure necessary
for education was lacking, and the quality of education declined.
School maintenance standards suffered, teachers fled the country,
morale and productivity deteriorated along with real incomes, and
many facilities were damaged by warfare and vandalism.
In 1990 adult literacy nationwide was estimated
at 50 percent. Improving this ratio was important to the Museveni
government. In order to reestablish the national priority on education,
the Museveni government adopted a two-phase policy--to rehabilitate
buildings and establish minimal conditions for instruction, and
to improve efficiency and quality of education through teacher training
and curriculum upgrading. Important long-term goals included establishing
universal primary education, extending the seven-year primary cycle
to eight or nine years, and shifting the emphasis in postsecondary
education from purely academic to more technical and vocational
training.
In 1999 there were 6 million pupils receiving primary
education, compared to only 2 million in 1986. Numbers received
a boost in 1997 when free primary education was made available for
four children per family.
Only some 40% of primary school graduates go on
to take any form of secondary education.
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