By KT Reporter
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) is set to conduct a baseline census focusing on aquaculture, labour, and education in Gulu district and Gulu City.
The exercise, scheduled to begin this month, will target households, schools, and aquaculture enterprises in both urban and peri-urban communities.
According to UBOS Public Relations Officer, Nancy Anyango, the census will provide vital statistics on fish farming, labour, and the education sector, which are key areas of economic and social development in the country.
Anyango told stakeholders during a briefing at Gulu City Council Hall on Monday, the data that will be collected will later be disseminated and also used for planning, to inform policy, and to help the government monitor the levels of service delivery in the country.
She cited that the Baseline Education Census is historic because it is the first time UBOS is conducting this kind of census, and the data is going to help the Ministry of Education and Sports to understand where the sector stands.
The education census was rolled out on 7 April 2025 in Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso, but the exercise was halted when schools broke off for holidays.
In Gulu district, Gulu City, and the rest of the country, the education baseline survey will start when learners resume studies in the second term, while for higher institutions of learning, the enumerators will use data provided by those institutions.
“This exercise is going to ensure that all schools in the country, both private and government, are enumerated or counted…We shall enumerate from kindergarten to university,” Anyango said.
During the education baseline survey, enumerators will get student enrollment by level and gender, school infrastructure and teacher availability, dropout rates and causes, license status, details of parents, date of birth, and National Identification Number, where applicable.
The aquaculture census, which is also being conducted for the first time, will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries.
The exercise aims to compile comprehensive data for all individual farms and institutions engaged in fish farming in all the districts across the country.
“The objective of this census is to provide statistics on this sector that is imagined to be a huge contributor to the economic development of our country,” Anyango said.
The aquaculture component of the census will collect data on, number and types of fish ponds, species being farmed, farm labour, scale of production, fish farm inputs and other equipment, infrastructure and services, aquaculture production and purposes, land use, market access and challenges, skills and training gaps.
The statistics body will also conduct a labour market survey in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, to provide critical insights into the composition and dynamics of labour market indicators associated with statistics.
UBOS hopes the census will also help identify the mismatches between the skills possessed and what employers require.
“We know that every year universities churn out several graduates. The question is, are the graduates being churned out qualified to take up their jobs in the marketplace?” she asked.
The census will help to determine the numbers of employment, underemployment, and unemployment in the country, and establish which sectors are creating the most jobs in the country, which ones are retaining workers for a longer time, as well as levels of destruction, such as after Covid-19.
Emmanuel Omara Pacoto, the Gulu District Fisheries Officer, also one of the supervisors of the exercise, said the aquaculture census will entail a full count of all the aquaculture facilities in the district, all household-based farms, and non-household-based farms.
The non-household-based farms include the farmer groups, the cooperatives engaged in fish farming, and other organisations that are involved in fish farming, like the NGOs.
Pacoto said fish contributes significantly to the national GDP, but there are no clear data in the sector, especially on fish farming.
“The government has set a target of producing one million tonnes of fish from aquaculture by 2030, but as we talk now, we don’t have any data on aquaculture,” Pacoto said.
Janan Lakony, the Senior Gulu City Education Officer, asked the enumerators to get quality data for informed decision-making, resource allocation, such as the UPE Capitation Grant, and subsequently improve the quality of education.
Lakony advised all stakeholders to embrace the exercise, calling upon parents to send their children to school immediately the second term reopens. “It will be disastrous for the entire city if the children are not counted. The UPE and the U.S.E. grants will drastically reduce,” Lakony said.
Sarah Apio, the Gulu City Statistician, argued that data is vital in facilitating all government planning, development agendas, policies, decisions, and resource mobilisation tools.
“There is a new saying now, [that data is the new oil. So, how you extract it and make meaning out of it is very important. It facilitates a lot of decision-making,” Apio said.
Alfred Okwonga, the mayor of Gulu City, welcomed the survey, saying the statistics and the report will help the administrative units to know their status in those particular sectors.
The mayor urged residents to cooperate with UBOS field staff and provide accurate information, and asked the enumerators to be close to the political leaders and explain what the exercise is about, to prevent cases where aspirants politicise government programs, for selfish interests of getting votes-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
