Candidates abandon Bunambutye primary school

Bulambuli, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The number of candidates at Bunambutye primary school in Bulambuli district has drastically dropped from 41 to 14 learners. The school that operates in tents was started by the Office of the Prime Minister – OPM for the children of people displaced from high-risk areas in Bugisu region.

URN visited the school recently and found only 14 out of the 41 registered Primary 7 candidates. Some of the parents explained that they relocated their children to the neighbouring Tabagonyi primary school in Bumufuni sub county because they were not learning in the resettlement camp. Tabagonyi is about 2 kilometers away from the resettlement camp.

The parents claim that their children would arrive at school and spend the day playing yet they are supposed to prepare for their Primary Leaving Examinations-PLE next month. Fobesa Nandudu, one of the parents told Uganda Radio Network that she was forced to transfer her child from the school because of the unfavourable learning conditions.

She explains that since she took her child to Bunambutye primary school, his performance has been deteriorating. According to Nandudu, her child told her that the teachers don’t teach citing the lack of teaching materials and nonpayment of their allowances and salaries. She says that they held a meeting with the school and agreed to take their children to Tabagonyi primary school where they registered them for PLE.

Sam Wanga, the Bunambutye primary school management committee chairperson says that since its inception, the school has faced a number of challenges which affect the learners.

In his view, the absence of facilitation from the government to the school including paying teachers and buying learning materials like textbooks has greatly affected learning at the school. He says this explains why the majority of the parents have removed their children from the school.

Wanga says that he has written severally to the authorities and visited the district over the same but nothing has been done to address their challenges.

Wilson Nathan Wanansolo, the chairperson of the resettlement camp wonders whether the school was established by government agencies or not. He says the failure by the authorities to give teachers their appointment letters and salary has been the biggest challenge to learning.

Teachers at the school decry the poor working conditions under which they operate saying that they have been neglected by the officials since they were posted to the school. The teachers say they have to operate as a community school only depending on handouts from parents since the inception of the school in June 2019.

They say the school operates on its own without even proper classrooms and latrine. The only available latrine is shared by teachers and learners. Mark Busheindich, one of the teachers at the school says the dusty and hot classrooms make it hard for a teacher to concentrate.

Ali Moya and Fred Gidudu both P.7 teachers said that they have not received their allowances since March last year and that no one speaks about the conditions under which they operate. They say learners started reducing from the school until only 14 remained.

Ibrahim Gimadu, the Bulambuli District Education Officer acknowledged the bad conditions under which the school is operating. He however said the school is still under the Office of the Prime Minister which is supposed to pay the teachers.

Peter Pak Pekes, the Bulambuli Resident District Commissioner says the school was started as a community school and parents have the responsibility of taking care of the school. He said plans are underway to code the school, which will address its challenges.

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URN