This policy brief was compiled through a review of the study report on “Assessment of FY 2020/2021 Budget Responsiveness to the Aftershock effects of COVID-19 on Children across Key Sectors of Health, Education, Social Development and Livelihood” by World Vision Uganda. The policy brief presents policy recommendations which are suggested for implementation by the government with an overall target of increasing financing for children education needs given the impact of Covid-19 in Uganda. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches – mainly making use of the review of relevant publications, and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).

The COVID-19 pan­demic has brought unprecedented challenges to the world. Developing countries like Uganda are likely to be more affected due to limited resources to address the potential impact. Children of all ages are being affected, in partic­ular, by the socio-economic impact and, in some cases, by mitigation measures that are, in some instances, inadvertently doing more harm than good. Among the key challenges that children are facing, is the disruption to learning since learning institutions were closed in March 2020, only to open for candidate classes in October 2020.

Budgets will play a central role in government responses to this virus and its fallout. However, due to the impact of Covid-19, government would not be able to generate the projected revenues (domestic and external) to fund the FY 2020/21 budget. Therefore, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Local Governments (LGs) were required to re-align their budgets to respond to the impact of COVID-19. This briefing paper provides an assessment of FY 2020/2021 education budget responsiveness to the aftershock effects of COVID-19 on children in Uganda.