Secondary Education Allocated $21 Billion

The delivery of secondary education has received much attention, with the provision of $21 billion in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives.
The bulk of the sum, $20.35 billion, will be provided as grants to high schools to be used for direction and administration, instruction, boarding, student assistance, and programme enhancement for newly upgraded high schools.
The remainder, $715 million, will go to junior high schools and departments, to be spent for direction and administration, instruction and for maintenance of buildings and equipment.
Secondary education is aimed at producing graduates with adequate training to qualify them for admission to tertiary institutions or for gainful employment.
In order to further improve the quality, efficiency and relevance of the curricula this fiscal year, the Education Ministry will continue to implement systems to improve monitoring and supervision, in order to achieve greater effectiveness.
The Ministry will also continue to reduce the number of students leaving school at age 15; streamline the technical/vocational programme at the secondary level; and train teachers in the use and delivery of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the curriculum.
It is also intended that for 2009/10, the Universal Secondary Education Programme will be implemented to provide full five years of secondary education for all students entering Grade 7. This is in addition to the provision of grants to newly upgraded high schools, in order to bring them in line with traditional high schools.