Parliament on Tuesday, 14 July 2026, passed a resolution urging the Government to review its university undergraduate sponsorship programme and increase the number of sponsorship slots allocated under the District Quota Scheme to improve access to higher education for students from poor, disadvantaged and rural communities.
Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, the Member of Parliament for Bardege-Layibi Division in Gulu City, who moved the motion during the House sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, argued that the current allocation no longer reflects Uganda’s growing student population and has failed to address inequalities in access to public university education.
In the motion, Mapenduzi argued that although between 60,000 and 80,000 students qualify annually for admission to public universities, Government sponsorship has remained capped at 4,000 students over the past five years.
He contended that the majority of the beneficiaries come from top-performing schools that are largely attended by students from well-to-do families.
Mapenduzi further argued that while the District Quota Scheme was introduced in 2004 to address inequities created by the national merit admissions system, its allocation of 896 slots based on district population disadvantages rural districts with smaller populations, leaving poor, disadvantaged and underprivileged students marginalised.
The resolution calls on Government to review the distribution of the 4,000 annual government sponsorship slots, particularly by increasing the share reserved for the District Quota Scheme, which currently receives 896 places out of the 1,000 slots allocated under the affirmative action schemes.
According to the motion, Government allocates 3,000 sponsorships, representing 75 per cent of the annual intake, through the national merit scheme, while the remaining 1,000 slots are shared among the District Quota Scheme (896), the Sports Scheme (40) and the Special Needs Scheme (64).
During consideration of the motion, members amended its heading to expressly include the Sports Scheme and Special Needs Scheme after concerns that the two affirmative action programmes had been omitted despite being referenced in the body of the motion.
Alex Ndeezi, the Member of Parliament representing the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) welcomed the proposal and called for amendments to ensure that persons with disabilities, and the sports scheme is taken care of.
Laura Kanushu, the Female PWD representative urged government to give greater attention to learners with disabilities.
“There can never be a vulnerable student more than that with special needs. If there are people who need a sponsorship at the universities more than anyone else, it is the students with disabilities. So we cannot afford to leave them out,” she said.
She also proposed that priority be given to students who attended public schools, particularly Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools.
Rubanda County West Member of Parliament, Bruce Balaba, said that evidence since the introduction of the District Quota Scheme shows that students admitted from rural schools often outperform their counterparts admitted with higher grades through the national merit system.
“There is evidence that the children from the rural schools who come with slightly lower grades… when they reach the university, they perform better than those with excellent grades from the other schools,” he said.
Balaba also proposed that half of all district quota sponsorships be reserved for science programmes, noting that about 90 per cent of students admitted under the scheme currently pursue humanities courses.
He further suggested increasing the district quota allocation while reducing the proportion reserved for the national merit scheme.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, directed that implementation of the resolution should follow the Rules of Procedure, which require ministers to submit an action-taken report to Parliament within 60 days.
Parliament resolved to urge Government to review the programme and increase the number of slots allocated to the District Quota Scheme to enable more poor, disadvantaged and underprivileged students to benefit from government-funded university education.
Source: Parliament
