Parents, students stuck as sole secondary school changed to primary

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hundreds of students in Bukakata sub-county in Masaka district are stuck in their homes following the conversion of the sole community secondary school in their area to a primary school.

Both the new and continuing students from Ssunga, Bukibonga, and Makonzi parishes of Bukakata sub-county are now stuck at home despite the resumption of studies on January 10th, 2022 following the nearly two-year closure of schools as part of the COVID-19 containment measure.

John Bosco Nyanzi, the LC I Chairperson of Bunnaddu Village in Bukibonga parish, says that many students are still at home resulting from the selling of Mivule Secondary School, the only secondary in the area.

He says that ahead of the school reopening, the proprietors of Mivule Secondary school sold off the school and the new owners chose to convert it into a primary school leaving the community without any alternative. Nyanzi explains although the school was private, it was affordable to the community.

He says that the owners sold it off following the construction of a government seed secondary school whose operationalization has been delayed. In 2019, the government injected Shillings 2.12billion into the construction of a seed school in Bunaddu village to offer universal secondary education.

The project according to Nyanzi scared off the proprietor of the private secondary school who hurriedly sold it off to avoid competing with the government hence the apparent stalemate.

Augustine Lutalo, a resident of Bunnaddu village confirms that he is yet to send his two children to school due to lack of an alternative in the area, adding that he cannot afford to take them to boarding schools that are outside the sub-county.

He explains that because of their proximity to landing sites, the area does not have many schools and they are disappointed by the delayed opening of the new seed school.

Francis Bukenya and Own Mulema, who would be in senior two and one respectively, say that their parents have asked them to wait for the opening of the government school, which is expected to begin operating next year.

Bukenya says the next secondary school in their locality is 12 miles away, which is too distant for many students. These have asked the government to urgently open their seed school such that they don’t lose another year at home.

Andrew Lukyamuzi Batemyetto, the Masaka district LC V Chairperson, says that they recently notified the Ministry of Education about the urgency of operating the seed school and they are expecting an inspection team to visit the site and eventually guide them on the way forward.

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