Butebo school gets facelift after 38 years

New look. Some of the parents and education officers tour the newly-renovated classroom block at Kawojan Primary School in Butebo District last week. PHOTO BY MUDANGHA KOLYANGHA

What you need to know:

  • The district education officer, Mr Boyi Tasamba, commended the Aisu family for the renovation of the four classroom block.
  • Background. The community school with classroom structures condemned as unfit for occupation, had never been renovated since government took it over in 1981, leaving the lives of the pupils at risk.

Kawojan Primary School in Butebo District has received a major boost after some good Samaritans mobilised Shs100 million to help renovate its dilapidated and condemned school structures.
The school headmaster, Mr Samuel Mugoya, said many of the classrooms were almost collapsing, putting the lives of pupils at risk.

He commended the family of the late Samuel Aisu for lending a hand to renovate a four-classroom block that was now disused.
“We are so grateful that finally, our learners have got a relief,” Mr Mugoya said.
The school in Osomora Village, Maizimasa Parish, in Kabwangasi Sub-county, was founded in 1922 by Church of Uganda and became government-aided in 1981.

Mr Paul Mbayo, one of the residents, said: “Most of the structures were in a sorry state and needed major renovation. Some parents had also started pulling out their children as some of the structures were on the verge of collapse.”
Mr Mugoya also said the school is understaffed, with only 11 teachers instead of the required 22 teachers.
But the family of the late Samuel Aisu, has moved in to save the situation by raising nearly Shs100 million to undertake a major facelift.

The family has also repaired broken desks at the school.
They described their efforts as a tribute to their parents and honouring their love for education and giving back to the community.
Ms Elizabeth Aisu said: “We [children] took the responsibility to fund the entire renovation. These structures had been condemned as unfit for occupation so we decided to mobilise resources to carry out a major facelift.” The school has 116 desks instead of 500 desks to cope with a population of 1,162 pupils.
“This implies that every desk accommodates between four to five pupils and this doesn’t create good learning environment for the pupils,” Ms Aisu said.

She said the family has also launched TOTO Isabella Amucu Aisu Education Fund to support two best vulnerable pupils who will excel in this year’s Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) in a bid to improve education in the district.
“The foundation will support them up to Senior Six and we believe this will motivate others to do better,” she said.
“We have also spearheaded the planting of trees to preserve the environment and we hope see more than 5 million trees planted. We are starting off with 100 seedlings that should be planted within the school compound. The programme will be later rolled down to other schools in the district,” Ms Aisu said.

She also said the Smart Girl Initiative headed by her sister, Ms Beatrice Omalinga, intends to train girls in making re-usable pads and underwear in order to prevent more girls dropping out of schools.
“Girls tend to drop out of school when they lack such basics requirements, so we need to uplift the standard of the girl-child by having good hygiene and pads,” she said.
Mr Mugoya also decried high school drop out due to early marriage and pregnancies.
“Since the year began, more than 162 girls have dropped out, especially in higher classes [P5-P7]. This figure is quite high,” he said.

Mr Elisa Kwebeya, the vice chairman, Alumni Association, applauded the Aisu family for their generosity to the community.
“We have nothing that we can reward you with, but to entrust you into the Lord’s hand. Other people should emulate the same spirit and support the school in the struggle to improve education,” he said.
The district education officer, Mr Boyi Tasamba, commended the Aisu family for the renovation of the four classroom block.

“This shows that this family values education. People should join government to improve education,” he said.