St Peter’s school seeks sh700m to ease congestion in classrooms

Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | St. Peter’s Church of Uganda Primary School, located in Nantabulirwa, Mukono Municipality, is seeking sh700 million to construct four classrooms that will ease the current congestion.

The school located within Namanve Industrial Park, currently accommodates over 1,000 learners but it is struggling with limited space, which affects the learning environment.

Eriya Baluma, the chairperson of the school management committee, stated that the decision to construct a new building was embraced as a solution to maximize the limited land available.

He says that the school hopes that the construction will provide the necessary space to improve the educational experience for its growing student population.

“As you can see, it is the only Church of Uganda government school serving the population of children whose parents work in factories within Namanve Industrial Park, the school has undergone all the necessary steps to have a modern building such as securing land title and also securing permission from relevant authorities. ” Baluma noted.

St. Peter’s Church of Uganda Primary School serves children from the villages of Kireku, Bweyogerere, Degeya, Kisenyi, and Nantabulirwa.

The head teacher, Florence Nabasumba, explains that the classrooms are extremely overcrowded. Originally designed to hold 65 pupils, the student population of each class is over 120 children, with Primary Three being the most crowded, with 145 pupils.

The school sits on about one acre of land, which already accommodates the playground, classrooms, latrines, and kitchen.

To manage the overcrowding, they recently bought two tents to serve as temporary classrooms, but these tents are not suitable when it rains.

According to the school’s building plan, the proposed building will have four classrooms on each floor, along with offices and modern toilets for both students and teachers.

Sylvia Faith Naggoloola, the Primary Three teacher, says that teaching a large number of learners in a crowded classroom is stressful.

She is calling on the government and well-wishers to support the construction of a modern classroom block.

St. Peter’s CoU Primary School began as a community school in 1986 and was officially granted its current land in 1994 by the late Jathom Tebera. The school gained more students after it was renovated and re-roofed by Roofings Limited, a company in Namanve.

Jimmy Lugoloobi, the Nantabulirwa Parish Chairperson and an alumnus of the school, is urging former students and well-wishers, particularly the business community in Namanve Industrial Park, to support the school’s initiative.

Rev. Paul Kiyaga of St. Peter’s Nantabulirwa Church of Uganda says that the new building will not only enhance the school’s appearance but also provide a better learning environment for the pupils.

Douglas Dembe, the chairperson of the Parents Teachers Association, adds that once the issue of overcrowding is resolved, the school will focus on establishing accommodation facilities for teachers and a dining hall for students.

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