Larger Young Population
Uganda’s student-aged population is more than 20 million strong, of which only 18 million is enrolled in schools. The Population at 47m in 2021 is projected to reach 80 million by 2030 and 130m by 2050 making is difficult for access to quality education.
Belief in the importance of education
Ugandan parents, across all income levels, view education as the key to unlocking better opportunities for their children. This is all the more so in the case of low-income families.
Most are not served by the public system
Only a fraction of the population can afford high-end private schools while the rest attend Government schools. In recent years, a new trend is the emergence of affordable private schools, which is fast becoming a preferred option for low income families
Dynamic, local entrepreneurs across Uganda have responded
Recognising the demand for affordable quality education, entrepreneurs across towns and villages in Uganda are creating local private schools. Often, they are former teachers or husband and wife teams, who have launched local schools using their own resources and are able to generate 20% to 30% margins at price points that low-income families can afford. This segment, grows bigger every day and now covers 60% of Uganda’s education sector.
Belief in the importance of edAffordable private schools lack access to capitalucation
Schools rarely comply with banks’ traditional lending requirements. Loans offered by micro-finance institutions are not large enough for school infrastructure projects. The other alternative in the form of informal money lenders leads to exorbitant interest rates. All of these meager options constrain the growth and innovation of such schools.