Bundibugyo government-aided school gets only 62 students

A government-aided school in Bundibugyo District is struggling to increase enrollment after it registered only 62 students for the third term.
Last term, Bukonzo Seed Secondary School had only 57 students from Senior One to Senior Four.
The school, with a total of 27 teachers, was started in 2013 by the community and it was taken over by the government in 2017. Since then, it has been grappling with low enrollment.
By last week, the school had not enrolled any students in Senior Three.

The acting head teacher, Mr Adukla Bwambale Nyamingi, said the management is trying to address the cause of poor enrollment. “The school has faced many managerial challenges but I also partly blame parents for their negative attitude towards it.  Residents prefer educating their children from schools outside this area,” Mr Bwambale said.   
He said the school lacks a board of governors committee, which is one of the major pillars in running any education institution.

“The school enrollment was more than 200 in recent years but the number has kept reducing, now that we’re sorting out the challenges affecting the school, we hope to receive more new students, so far we have received five new students this term,” Bwambale said.
The chairperson of Bukonzo Sub-county, Mr Abraham Mutabazi Kabinika, said the dropouts are affecting the progress of the school.
Mr Abel Kamende, a teacher, said the school has semi-permanent structures which cannot accommodate more than 300 students.
“Most of the students who dropout said the school has poor structures and it is hard-to-reach. Students have to walk long distances,” he said.

Other teachers, who preferred anonymity, said the transfer of the former head, Mr Costa Bwambale, resulted in some parents taking  their students to other schools.
Ms Evelyn Mukidi, the area councillor, urged district leaders to sensitise community to invest in education and embrace development.
“This school is deep in the mountain ranges of Rwenzori where some parents still have a negative attitude on educating their children, we need to join hands as leaders and sensitise the community,” Ms Mukidi said.