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Kabale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Students of Kabale School of Comprehensive Nursing in Kabale district have staged a protest over maladministration. The students accuse the administration led by the Principal Josephine Kigozi Nandilo, of being brutal and feeding them poor quality meals.
They also accuse the administration of maintaining medical, field placement, utilities, and computer maintenance and internet fees yet they plan to close by the end of this month and send the students home to embrace online studies.
According to the fees structure, students pay Shillings 15,000 as medical fees, Shillings, 60,000 for field placement, Shillings 151,200 for utilities, Shillings 20,000 for computer maintenance and internet and Shillings 20,000 for bus maintenance.
The students started complaining last week when the principals issued an internal memo indicating that despite their plans to close the school at the end of this month, the fees structure will not change. Students pay Shillings 1.2 million per semester.
Tension increased when management expelled two students believed to have instigated their colleagues to oppose the proposals. As a result, students rejected meals and threatened to stage a violent protest until management considers their concerns. Management alerted police, which deployed plain cloth officers to monitor the situation.
The guild prime minister Samuel Nfitundinda, Brian Nambala and Blessed Owembabazi among other concerned students, say they are tired of the administration preparing only posho and beans as opposed to interchanging the meals with milk, rice, matooke and beans on every Tuesday and matooke, meat, posho and beans on Sunday.
They also accuse the principal of reacting in a dictatorial manner by expelling their colleagues after the school assembly on Friday last week when they openly objected to her statements.
Godfrey Nyakahuma, the Kabale Resident District Commissioner confirms the impasse between students and school administration, saying that as security, they held a closed-door meeting with the management and student representatives om Wednesday to resolve the stalemate.
The meeting involved Kabale District Police Commander, Abel Ruganza, Kabale District Internal Security Officer, Reuben Mutabazi, Kabale municipal principal inspector of schools, Grace Munyambabazi and school governing council chairperson Dr. Sophie Namasopo.
Nyakahuma says that they decided to intervene after efforts by the school management to resolve the matter hit a snag amidst threats by the students to stage a violent strike.
He however blames the expelled students for using foul language and hurling insults at the principal as they objected to the new arrangements.
Nandilo declined to comment on the matter. But Tinah Nakalanzi Nakimela, a representative of the Education and Sports Ministry on the school governing council says that maintaining the fees structure is meant to enable the school to run smoothly.
She also says that the issues raised by the students are not binding, since the school administration is implementing the decisions of the ministry of education and sports and the school governing council, which are mandated to run the school.
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