One of the major objectives of UPE and public education spending is equity. This paper assesses how equitable Uganda’s public education expenditure really is—how public education expenditure differs across districts and regions and how this has changed over time. It also explores the costs facing households in sending their children to school: how these costs relate to government spending per pupil and how they have changed over time.

Key findings:

Despite universal primary education, parents with children in government-aided schools still spend more money in sending and keeping their children in school than government contributions taken together. They spend on uniforms, transport, exercise books, pens, pencils and erasers, meals, and medical care, among other items. These roles are not different from what parents had before UPE, except that they are now exempted from paying tuition.

Results also show a wide disparity in resource allocation on a per-pupil basis across districts, and these differences in expenditures across districts have been on an increasing trajectory over the years.