Hope for school children on islands

Until around 2002, primary school-going children from Nyende Island on Lake Victoria, which is about one hour and 40 minutes from Entebbe, had to travel by boat everyday to the nearest school. That school is 50 kilometres away.

Due to the long distance they travelled to get to school, there was little incentive to study when the easier alternative was to go fishing and earn money even at a young age. “Pupils were not excited to study. They were wasted in the lake,” said Mr Omeri Kitalonsyo, who has been a resident of Nyende Island for about 10 years.

The education situation at Nyende Island changed for the better in 2002, when the management of Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary teamed up with locals to start Nyende Primary School.

According to Mr Kitalonsyo, who is also the Director of Nyende Primary School, it started with only two classroom blocks but now has seven classrooms with 170 pupils and seven teachers.

Although pupil enrolment has risen, according to Mr Kitalonsyo, the allure of the quick cash from fishing still hinders education. “The pupils here are not stable with their studies,” he said. “The number of pupils varies everyday because they move from one island to another in search of fish.”

That situation has not dampened Mr Kitalonsyo’s optimism, especially because he feels the school has a reliable partner in the chimpanzee sanctuary. Last year, the first crop of pupils completed their education at primary, with 10 of them sitting the Primary Leaving Exams (PLE).

Mr Kitalonsyo says the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWT), which manages the Ngamba Island Sanctuary, has offered desks and teachers’ chairs to the primary school. The government has since also chipped in by offering text books to the school for teachers to implement the thematic curriculum.

The CSWT has offered similar support to the eight neighbouring islands of Chime, Nsazi, Bulago, Tave, Damba, Kakunyu, Kizima and Ngamba.

While the Nyende Primary School facility is the centre of education among the eight islands, it also offers support in other areas like health, tourism, agriculture and business. Ms Ajarova, says they have established programmes in the 10 communities surrounding the Ngamba Island to enhance sustainable living along the lake.

“The women here have a group which makes handicrafts which they sell to tourists and earn out of it,” she explained.