Ensure that learners have safe school structures

Yesterday we reported that parents, local leaders and administrators of Kakindo Primary School a government-aided school in Bugangari Sub-county, Rukungiri District are worried over the poor state of the school ahead of the re-opening next week.
The school is in a sorry state with dusty floors and no windows. The roofs are leaking, the walls are cracked and the timber is worn out, while the nursery section building is supported by wooden pillars.  The parents are worried that when rains set in, their children will have no shelter for protection.

According to the Bungangari Sub-county chairperson, Mr Justone Byamukama, the school serves seven villages with over 400 pupils. (See Daily Monitor of January 6, “Residents decry poor state of Kakindo Primary School”)
 Needless to say, Kakindo is not the only school in this country in a sorry state and yet the reopening is a couple of days away.  It is absurd that even with what should be a fresh start, learners are going back to the same dilapidated structures they were subjected to almost two years before the Covid-19 pandemic if not worse. In the heat of trying to get the economy back to full operation, giving regulations about vaccinations, standard operating procedures and the like, we still have the same problems in our education system unattended to. 

With a school like Kakindo that serves seven villages, and a huge number of learners, surely more should be channeled in its direction to ensure that its structures are safe and decent enough for habitation.
 In our story, the head teacher, Mr Patrick Rubarenzya, was quoted saying since its establishment, the government has not put up a single structure at the school except a toilet that was built by the district in 2012.

The authorities that be need to provide answers as to what exactly the problem here is. Why are such institutions not receiving even a fraction of the support they need?  How can we say we are serious about ensuring quality education for all when there are schools that are in such a state? What can stakeholders do to change this state of affairs? How have other schools such as this managed to rise out of this rubble? Again, yes this is not the only school in this condition but does that make the condition it is in acceptable? Something must be done to change the narrative when it comes to such education centres, otherwise education for all will remain but a far cry from what it looks like on paper.