Lango schools in sorry state ahead of reopening

With less than two weeks to the much anticipated reopening of schools after a two-year closure to curb the spread of Covid-19, three schools in Lango Sub-region are still grappling with challenges they faced during the lockdown. 

At Arwat Primary School in Awei Sub-county, Alebtong District, hailstorm blew off the roof of a classroom block in November. To date, the classroom has not been renovated due to lack of funds.

Mr Christopher Elem, the head teacher, said the school failed to raise the money needed to repair the affected classroom block and other run-down structures.

“We had planned to renovate some buildings including that one which was affected by the hailstorm but now parents are not cooperating. As we prepare to reopen, our children may study under tree sheds or we shall go back to a very old building which was abandoned due to its sorry state,” he said on Sunday.

In Apac District, the head teacher of Akokoro Primary School, said it does not have enough facilities to accommodate the pupils.

Mr Amos Odongo said many of the classrooms are in a sorry state.

“We have one classroom block which is in good condition and it can accommodate only three classes. The rest are in a very bad condition and one was destroyed by the wind. We have now bought portable blackboards to conduct lessons under trees once the schools reopen,” he said.

At Aninolal Primary School in Namasale Sub-county, Amolatar District, classrooms and teachers’ quarters were destroyed by flood water.

The school authorities asked parents and other education stakeholders to contribute towards the relocation of the school, which was estimated to cost more than Shs100 million but only a few contributed to the project.

Ms Caroline Akot, a parent, said members of the community are overwhelmed with their own problems and find it hard to contribute money towards the relocation of Aninolal Primary School.

Another parent, Mr Martin Okwir, said: “When schools reopen before Aninolal Primary is relocated, our children will have to move to Namasale Primary School, which is a bit far from here.”

Mr Ambrose Okwir, the Amolatar District education officer, said: “If things don’t go as planned, the district will have to erect tents which can be used temporarily as classrooms.” 

He added that the issue of flooding of the school started in 2019

All three schools are government-aided and by press time, the head teachers said they had not received financial support from the government.

Mr Okwir, however, said he had written to the Office of the Prime Minister requesting for support.

School closure
In March last year, President Museveni closed all education institutions to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
However, in October 2020, schools were reopened but only for candidate classes – Primary Seven, Senior Four and Six, and finalist students in higher institutions of learning.

In January, other classes were allowed to resume in a phased manner. These included semi-candidate classes.

However, in June, just before Primary One to Three pupils as well as Senior Two students were set to return to school, they were closed after a surge in Covid-19 cases.