In the heart of Uganda, a team of dedicated National and Regional committees embarked on a mission to ensure that the selection process for the Mastercard Foundation Programme “The Second Chance Pathways to Access Tertiary for Marginalized Girls and Boys” was carried out with the highest standards of integrity and fairness. This journey was not just about selection in the 4 regions, but it was about safeguarding the future of those who would benefit from these opportunities.

FAWE Uganda has for the past 10 years been implementing the Scholars Program in partnership with FAWERS and Mastercard Foundation. As a scale-up, FAWE Uganda is implementing the HEAC and TVET programme in Phase II following a successful launch in April 2024. They put up a call for Applications in July and are in the process of recruiting the first cohort.

FAWE Regional Secretariat staff conducted post-bursary selection observation for the first cohort of the Mastercard Foundation Phase II program in Uganda from 5th -8th August 2024. This exercise was to ascertain that the shortlisting, interview, and home visits for the 500 (300 for HEAC and 200 TVET applicants) have met set criteria, the quality assurance and to promote the culture of accountability and transparency.

The FAWE Uganda team took the RS team through the process of advertisement, selection, interview, and home visits. Some observations from the visit were as follows.

  • The call for application should be between 2 weeks and 1 month
  • Girls are not applying for STEM courses at the tertiary level, this is an opportunity to start mobilization when they are in secondary school
  • There was a high level of stakeholder engagement and a lot more should be done at community engagement with parents, teachers, and religious leaders to be ambassadors
  • There are many needy cases, but they don’t meet the set criteria.
At the end of the exercises below were key milestones achieved
Identified, and assessed 25 potential partner learning institutions, selecting 8 Universities and 8 TVET institutions:
  • 4,6618 Applications received i.e. 2057 Female and 2561 Male Applicants.
  • 459 i.e 293 Female and 166 male participants so far recruited for both HEAC ( 259) and 200 ( TVET) programme.
“The journey through Uganda’s selection observation was not just a task fulfilled but a powerful reminder of the importance of fairness and transparency. As we move forward, let us continue to champion these values, ensuring that every individual, no matter where they are, is given a fair chance to succeed.” Said Dr. Mary Wanda, Academic Registrar of Ndejje University, and chair of the central regional committee.