Abstract
Access to university education is one of the fundamental educational questions in contemporary educational debates. This is because university education is seen as having an array of benefits to individuals, their households, and their nations. However, the challenge of inequality in terms of gender, income, location, and socio-economic status has constrained some individuals and households to access quality university education. In 2005 the government of Uganda introduced the District Quota Scheme to address the social inequalities in accessing university education. This study examined how the District Quota Scheme is addressing the rural-urban divide in access to university; how the District Quota Scheme has increased access to university education for children with parents who have low levels of education; and whether the District Quota Scheme is improving access to university education for children from low-income families. Following the social constructivist research paradigm and integrating both quantitative and qualitative research methods, the study found a change in access to university education by students from rural areas, students whose parents have lower levels of education, and those from low-income families as a result of introducing the District Quota Scheme. The study recommends that the government of Uganda and other stakeholders in the higher education sector should address the structural challenges to ensure that mainly the socially disadvantaged students take the biggest advantage of this scheme.
Highlights
Access to higher education is one of the fundamental educational questions in contemporary educational debates because higher education is seen as having an array of benefits to individuals, their households, and to our nations (Bowen, 2015; Baum, Ma & Payea, 2013; Huber & Kuncel 2015)
These variables are important in this study because one would wish to know whether benefitting from the District Quota Scheme was fairly distributed across gender, year of study, the discipline of study, and family background
There are affluent families in rural districts that send their children to high-status schools in urban centers, but those students register for examinations in the rural school. Such students meet the criteria for the District Quota Scheme, yet they are not disadvantaged in the merit system but are just enjoying location advantages being in areas targeted by the scheme
Summary
Access to higher education is one of the fundamental educational questions in contemporary educational debates because higher education is seen as having an array of benefits to individuals, their households, and to our nations (Bowen, 2015; Baum, Ma & Payea, 2013; Huber & Kuncel 2015). Initial education introduced by the missionaries was accessible mainly by the children of the upper-class families such that the first high schools and colleges in Uganda were meant for the sons and daughters of chiefs and other influential people in society. These high schools and colleges were mainly located in the central region of the country qualifying students from other regions would find it difficult to access them, which made it difficult for such students from other regions to access university education though it was free. The social and geographical inequity in secondary education was reflected at the university level in that though university education was free, it was students from the upper class that would access it
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