Only seven per cent of students who passed the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) have secured places in boarding schools as more than 180,000 others will attend day schools, the Minister of State for Education, Claudette Irere, has said.

Irere said the figures reflect the limited capacity of boarding schools across the country, adding that it was not possible to accommodate all students in boarding facilities.

"Available boarding schools can accommodate only 17,000 students in Senior One, while those who passed the Primary Leaving Examinations are more than 200,000. This means that not everyone can go to boarding school,” she told national broadcaster RBA.

This followed the release of national examination results for Primary and Ordinary Level on Thursday, August 20.

Irere said the government prioritises placing students in schools located close to their families when boarding places are unavailable.

"What we do next is to look for where they can study without facing difficulties, close to their families,” she said.

She added that the national examination results were released more than two weeks ahead of the beginning of the new academic year to enable education authorities to coordinate student placements and identify available spaces.

"We take time to work with other concerned institutions to allocate those students. That is why we release national examination results a bit early—to see where we can get spaces to allocate all students who passed the national examinations,” Irere said.

"Every parent wishes that their children can go to the school of their choice, but we have limited capacity. Moving from facilities that accommodate 17,000 students to those that accommodate 200,000 is not something you can do overnight,” she said.

Irere cited GS Saint Aloys as an example of the high demand for boarding places. The school reportedly had 120 available places but received applications from about 28,000 students.

She said the government would continue to invest in both boarding and day-school infrastructure as resources become available.

"We will continue putting in more effort to increase infrastructure for boarding schools, as we also build the capacity of day schools. We will keep increasing boarding schools as we get the financial means to do so,” she said.

Irere encouraged parents to support children placed in day schools, saying that students can perform well while studying close to their families.

"Day schools are also good schools and are available. Students can enroll there and study well as they also get support from their parents,” she said.

According to NESA figures, 17,412 students progressing from primary to Senior One have been placed in boarding schools, while 226,546 have been placed in day schools.

For students moving from Ordinary Level to Advanced Level, 18,944 have been placed in boarding schools and 57,276 in day schools.

In Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), 2,698 students have been placed in boarding schools, while 17,747 will study in day schools.

Parents speak out

However, some parents expressed disappointment over the placements.

Anasthasie Batamuriza, a parent from Rwamagana District, said she had hoped her daughter would be admitted to a boarding school after scoring 86 per cent in the national examinations.

"While we were happy that she got good grades, we received the results with mixed reactions because she could not get admitted to a boarding school,” Batamuriza said.

She added that boarding school had been both her preference and her daughter’s aspiration.

"Our wish was for her to get a place in a boarding school, and she also wished to go there. We hope that more schools will be built in the future so that more children can be admitted,” she said.

Minister Irere urged parents to support students enrolled in day schools stressing that the government will gradually expand boarding facilities in line with available resources.