Budaka pupils grapple with insufficient latrines

Pupils in various government-aided primary schools in Budaka District risk contracting sanitation-related diseases due to the shortage of pit-latrines in most schools.

The district has 59 government-aided primary schools but most of them do not have enough pit-latrines due to the overwhelming population of learners.

Even the few existing pit-latrines are in a sorry state.

The headmaster of Budaka Family Helper Project Primary School, Mr Eriya Poli, told Daily Monitor on Monday that despite the school having an enrolment of 2,411 learners, they have only 15 pit-latrine stances.

“And the pit-latrines are in a sorry state. The school had taken more than 15 years without getting support in terms of pit-latrines until in the last financial year when our school got five pit-latrine stances, but this is still insufficient,” Mr Poli said.

He added that the pit-latrine-pupil ratio currently stands at 1:100 instead of the recommended 1:25. He said this negatively affects the sanitation of the learners.

The head teacher of Kamonkoli Mixed Day and Boarding Primary School, Mr Fred Muduku, said the facility with a learner enrolment of 1,463, has only 10 pit-latrine stances.

“In the Financial Year 2022/2023, the school got five pit-latrine stances, which are being used by the girls and shared with female teachers. However, the facility is currently over utilised. The rest of the pit-latrines are dilapidated and condemned for use,” Mr Muduko said.

Latrine woes

Mr Patrick Ntende, the school Parent Teacher Association chairperson, said some learners are forced to sneak into teachers' pit-latrines.

“The school pit-latrines are insufficient to meet the needs of its growing learner population,” he said. 

Daily Monitor found out that different school’s pit-latrines are filled up because of being overused, while others have sunk in, leaving many teachers and pupils with no option but to share the few pit-latrines or ease themselves in the nearby bushes.

Mr Isaac Mudangha, a member of the management committee of Kamonkoli Mixed Day and Boarding Primary School, said lack of enough pit-latrines is putting the health of the children and teachers at risk.

The district senior education officer, Ms Khanifa Mugala, acknowledged the challenge but said the district is constrained due to limited resources.

“We give priority to those schools that are so badly off, although it is true the challenge cuts across all schools but there are those that are in dire need,” Mr Mugala, said.

The Budaka District Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Richard Mugolo, said the district is only able to provide 20 pit-latrine stances per year due to resource constraints.