25 UPE Namutumba schools to remain closed over latrines
Sensitisation. The State Minister for Primary Education, Ms Rosemary Seninde, (Standing, centre) addresses pupils of Bulowe Primary School in Bugiri District last year. She decried the lack of pit-latrines in UPE schools. PHOTO BY RONALD SEEBE
What you need to know:
Struggling. Authorities attribute the lack of sanitary facilities to inadequate budget allocation.
A s pupils gear up for a new academic term next week, about 25 Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Namutumba District are expected to remain closed due to lack of pit-latrines, the district education officer, has said.
Mr Muhammad Isiko said the affected include Bugwe, Nabikabala, St Paul Church of Uganda, Bulafa, Kiranga, Namalowe, Maumwe, Buwola, Katengereire and Nakazinga primary schools, among others. The district has 100 UPE schools.
Mr Isiko attributed the lack of sanitary facilities to inadequate budget allocation and heavy rain which destroyed many pit-latrines.
“The district resource envelope is not enough. Therefore, there is need to lobby for more funds from government, donors and funding partners,” he said.
“There is no way we shall improve the standard of education in the district when the learning environment is not conducive for pupils,” Mr Isiko added.
Ms Rehema Naigaga, the head teacher of Bulafa Primary School, said she had written to relevant authorities several times notifying them of her intentions to construct a pit-latrine but had not received any support. Her Nabikabala counterpart, Mr Charles Wampande, said they had resorted to mobilising parents to construct a pit-latrine.
“We are calling upon parents to raise the money so that we can construct a pit-latrine as we wait for government intervention,” Mr Wampande said.
Other heads of the affected schools declined to comment on the directive.
While addressing pupils of Bulowe Primary School, Buwunga Sub-county in Bugiri District, last year, the State Minister for Primary Education, Ms Rosemary Seninde, urged head teachers to keep hygiene.
“In some schools, pupils leave home when they are healthy and get diseases at school due to poor hygienic conditions,” she said.
Her call followed a complaint from teachers that staff members share pit-latrines with pupils.
“It is not professional and ethical for teachers to keep sharing pit-latrines with their pupils; they must be separated,” Ms Seninde said.
NO CLASSROOMS
Mr John Mande, the district vice chairperson, said schools also lack classrooms and desks, which affects performance. The district had 180 first grades in last year’s PLE examinations down from 370 in the previous year.
