Schools in dire condition ahead of next year’s reopening

Both government and private-owned schools across the country are in sorry state with limited funds to carry out renovations ahead of next year’s reopening.

Some of the schools visited by Daily Monitor have their properties including furniture, classroom doors and windows damaged by termites. Most of the rural schools have dilapidated structures, unkempt compounds while others lack pit-latrines.

At Gomero Primary School in Nakaseke District, animals have taken over the premises.

The office furniture, text books, and wall clock among other scholastic materials in one office bring back memories of a once organised school.
The school, according to the district chairperson, Mr Ignatius Kiwanuka Koomu, has been permanently closed and its code given out.

The teaching staff have now been transferred to the different schools within Nakaseke.
“Our effort to save the school hit a dead end. The parents failed to cooperate,” he said at the weekend.

The school closure comes nearly a decade after government constructed and repaired classroom blocks, procured scholastic materials and recruited new teaching staff.
Mr Kenneth Nyebaza, a former pupil at Gomero Primary School between 2002 and 2006, said efforts to save the school from closure by a handful of parents hit a dead end in February 2020 when the school reopened with only six pupils.

“Gomero Primary School had permanent teachers on government payroll, including the head teacher, but the enrolment kept declining as parents opted to have their children study from schools that perhaps had a better academic standard,” Mr Fred Nyebaze, also a resident of Gomero Village, said.

However, the Nakaseke District Education Officer, Mr Stephen Batanude, said all steps were followed to deregister the school.
“It is not true that we did not consult and engage the community including the parents about the status of the school where the government was spending money on teachers’ salaries and scholastic materials yet the enrolment had gone down,” he said.

In Mityana District, one of the businessmen, Mr Saul Lukodo, has already converted his school, Alliance Modern Nursery and Primary, into a hotel.
What used to be classrooms have since been partitioned into accommodation rooms and the main hall was made a conference hall.
The administration block was turned into single self-contained rooms for rent.
 
Another classroom on the storeyed block currently serves as a bar and the swimming pool has since been removed. 
Mr Lukodo has in the last three weeks declined to comment about his new business venture. But before closure of schools in June, the school had 1,000 pupils. 

Mr James Muwanga Kironde, the school inspector in Mityana Municipality, said the prolonged closure of schools is likely to push many private school proprietors out of business.
Ms Vicencia Musubika, the head teacher of Kyomya Primary School in Jinja District with a special needs care unit, said for the time the schools have been under lock and key, many school properties such as furniture have been damaged by termites and need repair.
Mr Paul Musumire, the deputy head teacher of St Patrick Primary School in Buikwe District, said he would not sure whether all his teaching staff would return to work.
“A few of the teachers, especially those in primary section have promised to come back and teach although they are running their private businesses,’’ he said.

Mr John Lubega, the head teacher of Progressive SS, Mpigi District, said: “I am a victim already, I used to rent buildings for my secondary school, but with the endless lockdown, my landlord may chase me away because he is not getting any money from me.” 
Despite the lockdown, Ms Molly Kesiime, the head teacher of Mpigi Parents Primary School, said she had managed to settle her loans. 

“The banks I use are patient and since I own the buildings, I have been able to handle the situation,” he said.
In Tororo, the parents and the school management at Panyangasi Primary School in Rubongi Sub-county have been left in a dilemma after the pit-latrines collapsed.
 The school head teacher, Mr Daniel Hamia, said:  “We are not sure if we will reopen, but we have written to the district, though we have not received any positive response. If they don’t respond, the school will remain closed even when schools reopen next year,” he said.
The school has an enrolment of about 1,200 pupils.  
Mr Nafutali Osinde, a member of the school management committee, who is also the chairperson of Panyangasi “A’’ Village where the school is located, said the government should intervene.
The Tororo District education officer, Mr Albert Odoi, said of the 163 government-aided primary schools in the district, most of them have been vandalised.
“Most of the schools have had doors and windows taken away by community members,” he said, adding that the most affected schools are those that did not have security guards.
Mr Odoi said most of the schools across the district have had pit-latrines collapse due to heavy rains.

Mr Noah Okumu, the secretary of education in the district, said they will spearhead the construction of pit-latrines, the teacher’s quarters and renovation of classroom blocks of the affected schools when more resources are available.
In Lango, some private schools may not reopen. 

For instance, the entire buildings at Rohana Nursery and Primary School in Chegere Sub-county, Apac, have collapsed.
The school compound of Awiri Vision Primary School in Apac Municipality has been turned into a maize garden. 
At St Johana Nursery and Primary School in Apac Sub-county,  the premises  appear abandoned and the compound is bushy.

However, Mr Moses Ekwang, the head teacher of St Luke Nursery and Primary School in Apac Municipality, said they are prepared to welcome learners if schools reopen. 
 “We have been working hard to maintain our school. The buildings, desks are in good condition and our staff are fully vaccinated. So, we are ready to open at any time,” he said.
The head teacher of St Luke Primary School, Mr Amos Odongo, said some pupils will study under tree when they reopen because of shortage of classrooms.

“My school is ready for reopening, but we have only four classrooms,” he said. Mr John Onyango, the director of Good Foundation Nursery and Primary School, Aduku Town Council in Kwania District, said he is ready to reopen.
“I am always within the school to show parents that I am interested in my school and ready to continue after the lockdown,” he said.

In Bushenyi District, the management of Kiyaga Primary School in Bumbaire Sub-county have turned the school compound into a garden of peas and eggplants.
Ms Tumushabe Sicondinah, the headteacher, said they decided to use the school land to plant crops to prevent locals from encroaching on it.

“We had to think of the way to prevent people from encroaching on the land because in this area, land grabbing is an order of the day,”Ms Tumushabe said.
Ms Karengo Grace, the head teacher of Nyamizi Primary School Bumbaire in Sub-county, said they also turned the compound into a garden.

“We have been facing challenges of feeding our teachers. So we decided to use this period to plant bananas,” Ms Karengo said.  
Ms Karengo said they are prepared to receive pupils, but they will first call both PTA and the school management committees to resolve certain issues.
The district education officer, Mr Saul Rwampororo, said his office is planning to visit all schools to check on their preparedness.

“If the government can release the exact dates for school reopening, we can prepare in a very short time,” he said.
Different schools visited in Rukungiri District were bushy and did not look prepared to reopen soon.

The district education officer, Mr Jackson Turyahumura, said they have informed school administrators of both government and private owned schools to prepare for reopening.
“During our last inspection of schools, a few had challenges such as broken furniture, bushy compounds and they also lacked learning materials,” Mr Turyahumura said. 

Mbarara City education officer Francis Tumwebaze said they are ensuring that all teachers and students who are 18 years and above get immunised against Covid-19.
In Mbale, Mr Moses Buyela, the head teacher of Mbale Secondary School, said: “We are ensuring that the school staff, both teaching and non-teaching, are vaccinated against Covid-19 and now we stand at more than 80 percent.” 

He added that in order to create enough space, they have turned part of the library and laboratory buildings into classrooms.
When Daily Monitor visited some schools in the city including Fairway Primary School and Busamaga Primary School, among others, the compounds were bushy.
Mr Sam Mabonga, a head teacher of Bugisu High school said the school is under renovation.

“We are also constructing more classrooms to safely accommodate the entire number of students in the school,” he said. Mr Simon Idoloi, the head teacher in charge of academics at Nkokonjeru Primary School, said they were prepared to reopen.
“We have got enough classrooms and handwashing facilities have been put in place,” he said.
In Ntoroko District, the director of Bright Future Nurturing Nursery and Primary School, Ms Christine Ntembe, said apart from Covid-19, they have been affected by floods.
 

“The floods have destroyed the school and we are yet to complete the construction of the new classroom blocks,” she said. The head teacher of Kachwakumu Parent Primary School, Mr Nathan Mutegeki, said they are not ready to reopen. “We are not ready at all because all the classrooms have been submerged by floods,” he said.

The story is the same at Umoja Primary School where all classroom blocks are still submerged in floods.
The school head teacher, Mr Benson Atujuna, asked the government to relocate the school. “The other option is to shift learners to other neighbouring schools in the sub-county of Butungama,” he said.

The Ntoroko District chairperson, Mr William Kasoro, said they don’t have resources to relocate the submerged schools, but placed their hopes on the central government.
In Masindi District, Mr Rogers Bagonza, the director of Foundation High School, said they were ready to reopen.

The head teacher of Nsamba SS, Mr AleX Nsamba, said government should bailed out private schools.
In Kigezi, a section of local leaders are appealing to the central government to release funds for renovating all the schools.
The Kisoro District chairperson, Mr Abel Bizimana, said the government should do a rapid assessment of the state of affairs at institutions .

“Government should prepare funds for renovating all schools because most of them are now dilapidated. It will be embarrassing for the cherished NRM government to reopen schools for learners before renovating them,” Mr Bizimana said.
The chairperson of Rukiga District, Mr Robert Mbabazi Kakwerere, said he received reports that several latrines in different primary schools in Kamwezi Sub-county had collapsed.

The minister of State for Higher Education, Dr John Chyrsostom Muyingo, during his visit to Busitema University in Mbale last month, warned that education institutions that fail to meet the Covid-19 guidelines will not reopen.
“We are not prepared to lose any Ugandan because of some stubborn fellows and so schools that will fail to put in place the required measures will not be allowed to reopen,” he said.

In Kamuli District, the chairperson of the primary head teachers association, Mr Husein Mitala, said the schools are grappling with maintenance costs.
“Government has forgotten that schools operate though at a minimal level, teachers have to be at school one or two, compounds have to be maintained, others have utility costs, but all these need funds to run,” Mr Mitala said.

Mr Thomas Dhamuzungu, the head teacher, said the little funds that were disbursed to school accounts in June have been blocked yet the banks are deducting bank charges.
Most of the school compounds are now overgrown with grass and turned grazing grounds, anthills are eating up desks and staff have diverted to alternative income activities.
Buyende District education officer Dison Bwire said the government should sponsor refresher training for teachers for at least a week.

Ministry responds
 Dr Dennis Mugimba, the Education ministry spokesperson, said there are plans to assess and refurbish government schools.
“The proposals have not yet been approved,” he said.

Mr Mugimba, however, said capitation grants were released to all government –aided schools.
“The capitation grants should be used to buy instructional materials, slash bushy compounds, and cater for other administrative costs. The funds are not meant for capital development such as renovation of buildings,” he said.

Compiled by Fred Wambede, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Dan Wandera, Denis Edema, Brian Adams Kesiime, Milton Bandiho, Ronald Kabanza, Felix Ainebyoona, Robert Muhereza, and Emmanuel Arineitwe, Phoebe Masongole, Joseph Omollo, Alex Ashaba, Ismail Bategeka, and Sam Caleb Opio