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Inadequate staffing irks operations at the newly opened seed school
First cohort of learners at Kebisoni Seed School. Photo/Courtesy
What you need to know:
The school is the second of its kind in the district, and parents have eagerly awaited its opening to receive an affordable education
School administrators at the newly opened Kebisoni Seed School in Rukungiri District are struggling to run school operations smoothly due to inadequate staffing.
The school is the second of its kind in the district, and parents have eagerly awaited its opening to receive an affordable education.
On Monday, February 5th, 2024, the school officially commenced the first term of the 2024 academic year per the Ministry of Education and Sports calendar.
The school headteacher Ms Kellen Charity Kyomugisha says although the Ministry of Education, Sports and ITC provided over 20 teachers, only three have been received, leaving the school to rely on private ones, which is expensive.
We opened the school on Monday this week but we are struggling to run the school because enrollment is increasing daily. The school’s enrollment is currently 249 learners. This enrollment needs teachers to be there all the time’’ Ms Kyomugisha said.
The head teacher added’’ We have enrolled 152 students for Senior One, 64 for Senior Two, and 33 for Senior Three.’’
The headteacher now wants the government to intervene before the situation gets out of control.
Mr Mugabe Athanasius, the school’s deputy head teacher says the enrolment is overwhelming.
“Yeah, we are still waiting for the teachers that the government sent here but the truth is we are being overwhelmed by the increasing number of learners. We are expecting more next week because we are getting calls from the public seeking positions for the learners,” Mr Mugabe said.
Mr Frank Mabwa, a Board member expressed his excitement at the high number of students seeking admission but decried a shortage of teachers.
“We are happy that our long-awaited Kebisoni Seed School has finally opened but we are having a challenge with teachers. Teachers are few compared to the school’s enrollment. The government supported us with 20 teachers but 3 have so far reported for their duties so we ask the government to send us other teachers and teach our children” Mr Mabwa said.
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Mr Waswa Masokoyi called for calmness saying that it is still too early to complain that teachers are not available.
‘’We give them time to report because they were recently deployed. We shall assess after one month and if most of them report, it means that the rest will also come. Let's be patient,’’ Mr Masokoyi said.
