Accessibility of Higher Education, Local Revenue Mobilisation, and Financial Sustainability: The Case of LivingStone International University Academic Programmes in Uganda

Abstract

Philosophers observe education as a tool that, if contextually well implemented, can influence socioeconomic transformation, leading to the attainment of vibrant pluralistic societies. However, in Uganda, school completion rates are alarming, and access to higher education for young people is a challenging journey. To this effect, the study investigated the accessibility trends of education in Uganda. Relying on contemporary research methodology, the strategies that Livingstone International University can utilise to influence communities to get involved in the education process of children, and at the same time, to raise local revenues towards the support of the institution's academic programmes were examined. Results reveal that due to high illiteracy levels that were registered in Uganda in the 1990s, the government launched Education for All in 1997 and in 2007. The initial years witnessed massive enrolments in primary schools as compared to young people who later joined post-primary education. Nonetheless, eight years down the road, 80 % of the young people who had enrolled to benefit from free primary education dropped out of school. As a result of several factors that affected the normal schooling of children, 20 % of the children joined post-primary education. Astonishingly, even those who joined secondary education only 40 % completed secondary school. Between 2019 and 2020, due to household economic poverty, 69 % of those who completed high school were unable to access higher education. Only eight % joined higher education. The trend recorded in 2024 indicated that post-secondary transition to higher education stood at 18 %. Under such circumstances, it was recommended that if Livingstone International University engages in community dialogues, then such endeavours are most likely to influence local communities to get involved in the education process of their children until they attain professional skills that can position them to offer monetised services to society.