MINISTER: Parents face arrest for keeping school-going children Home

Lugazi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The State Minister for Higher Education John Chrysostom Muyingo has cautioned parents against keeping school-going children at home and says that those who fail to heed, risk arrest.

Muyingo says that he has received reports in his office of many parents who are still failing to return children to schools reportedly due to lack of school fees and scholastic materials. He said this is unacceptable, at a time when the government is providing universal Primary and secondary education.

The concern comes almost two months after the reopening of schools following two years of a lockdown occasioned by an outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the time of the lockdown, several Ugandans had their livelihood distorted by the COVID-19 Pandemic due to restrictions on movement, interactions and operations.

Muyingo was addressing a congregation after a thanksgiving mass celebrating 25-years of the Lugazi Diocese on Sunday. The catholic Diocese attained its Silver Jubilee on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, since its inauguration in 1997.

During the event, Muyingo asked residents of Lugazi to work hard and improve their income in order to afford to take their children to good schools. Muyingo is concerned that children in Catholic founded schools in Lugazi Diocese come from distant parts of the country yet they were established to mainly increase literacy levels of the community.

The diocese owns traditional schools such as St Theresa schools, Namilyango College and St. Mary’s College Namagunga. Besides, other new schools such as St. Borgia, Seat of Wisdom and St. Balikudembe SSS were recently established.

Bishop Anthony Zziwa, the chairperson of the episcopal conference advised parents to utilize development opportunities availed by Lugazi Diocese through Caritas to boost their income. The agency champions the improvement of the living standards of its people by providing seed capital and material help such as heifers, goats and pigs.

Bishop Zziwa also condemned the grabbing of Church land in different parts of the country as well as that of individuals by rich and powerful people.

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