Over 30,000 pupils miss lunch at school – survey

More than 30,000 pupils in 47 government-aided primary schools in Namayingo District don’t have lunch at school, according to a survey conducted last month by the education department.

The findings from the survey, which was released on Wednesday last week, suggest that of a total 34,566 pupils, 32,297 pupils go hungry. 

Namayingo has 89 government-aided primary schools, according to the survey.

The survey states that in some schools, pupils did not get any meals despite having a high enrollment.

These include Nasinu Primary School (566), Namihinya Primary School (578), Mulombi Primary School (840), Bugoma Primary School (253), Bwisa Primary School (182), Dolwe Primary School (960), and Majoga Primary School (565).

However, at Hama Primary School, at least 135 out of 285 pupils receive meals at school while at Bumeru Primary School 772 pupils out of 1,106 get meals.

Mr Vincent Makali, the Namayingo District Education Officer, said:  “We have had several meetings with parents, telling them to provide food for their children but it seems many have a negative attitude towards the arrangement.” 

At Namayingo Primary School in Namayingo Town, only 58 pupils out of 1,600 have lunch at school, according to the headmaster, Mr Godfrey Syongola. 

Mr Syongola said parents are supposed to contribute 15kgs of maize and 6kgs of beans per term to the school to feed the children but the majority don’t.

He said at lunch, there are chaotic scenes outside the school as the pupils, who don’t get meals, struggle to buy sugarcane from a vendor. 

At Budidi Primary School, Ms Julian Akurut, a teacher, said only one pupil out of the 794 has lunch at the school.
Ms Akurut said some pupils have dropped out of school due to lack of meals.

“They would rather stay home and have meals than starve at school,” Ms Akurut said, adding that Primary Four was the worst-affected class. 

“During first term when the school was providing them with porridge, their class enrollment was 136; but when provision of porridge stopped, the class enrollment dropped to less than 60,” she added.

At Nasinu Primary School in Namayingo Town Council, the school does not provide lunch for pupils.
Ms Annet Nabwire, the head teacher, blamed this on the parents’ failure to contribute food to the school.

She said the parents claim that they were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and can’t contribute any food.

A pupil at one of the schools, who declined to be named at the advice of her teacher, said her parents’ failure to pay for her to receive meals at school was affecting her learning.

“It’s hard for me to concentrate in class when I am hungry. Teachers come and teach but I hardly grasp anything,” she said.

Another student said he steals food and mangoes from people’s gardens to beat hunger pangs. 

However, Mr Ayubu Kakaire, a parent, said whereas they are willing to provide food to the school to feed their children, they have no food at home due to bad weather over the past two seasons. 

Mr Yasin Waiswa, another parent, said children should persevere with the situation. 
“During my days, I never had meals at school; instead, I would stay hungry and wait to go back home in the evening to eat,” he said.

Mr Stephen Mudiba, also a parent, however, said feeding learners at school is the responsibility of the parents and dismissed those claiming not to contribute food on grounds of lacking.

The Namayingo District chairperson, Mr Ronald Sanya, said they have drafted a bylaw that seeks to compel all parents to provide meals to their children while at school.

Mr James Nandako, the Namayingo District Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) chairperson, said the situation was very bad because both teachers and pupils in several schools were not having meals at school.