By Staff Reporter
Education authorities in Soroti City have warned that parents who fail to register their children under the Education Management Information System (EMIS) risk affecting the amount of capitation grants allocated to government schools.
The warning follows concerns that some parents are reluctant to provide the necessary information required to register learners in the national education database.
According to Simon Opolot, the Inspector of Schools in Soroti City, the government provides Shs20,000 per learner annually to government primary schools as part of the capitation grant meant to support school operations.
Opolot explained that the government is now relying on EMIS data to determine the exact number of learners enrolled in schools and calculate the amount of funding each institution should receive.
“This year the government is using EMIS to ascertain the number of learners in schools, and the capitation grant will be based only on the learners who are registered in the system,” Opolot said.
He warned that failure by parents to register their children could significantly reduce the funds allocated to schools, ultimately affecting service delivery and learning conditions.
Opolot therefore urged parents to cooperate with school authorities by presenting their National Identification Numbers (NINs) so that their children can be successfully registered in the system.
Meanwhile, Francis Esabu, an education official working with the city education department in Soroti City, also confirmed the challenge.
Esabu explained that when some learners are not registered under EMIS, schools are forced to operate with limited resources despite having many pupils.
“It becomes difficult for schools to share the small resource envelope from the government among a larger number of children, yet every learner is supposed to be planned for,” he noted.
Education officials say proper registration of learners under EMIS will help government plan effectively for education services, including funding, infrastructure development and deployment of teachers.
Parents have therefore been encouraged to respond positively to calls from school administrators to ensure that all learners are registered in the system to avoid disruptions in funding to government schools.
