School of Over 300 Pupils Without Classroom
School of over 300 pupils without classroom
Our reporter
PALISA – Over 300 pupils off Butoli Primary School, Palisa district are studying under trees with only primary six and seven who are privileged to study in an unroofed church. In post by Robert Kyagulayi aka Bobi Wine’ X handle, the school has only five teachers, including the headmaster.
“The latrine in a sorry state is shared by teachers and pupils. This is the true state of our nation, after 38 years of President Yoweri Museveni rule. What do they spend our taxes on? Living in extreme luxury, organizing parties, buying luxurious jets and cars, and keeping the balance in offshore accounts! While they steal away the future of the generations to come. The true reason we must rise up and say enough is enough,” he posted.
Such pupils have not benefited to the Universal Primary Education (UPE) despite government’ Shs900bn spent annually on primary education. Almost 70 percent of children are likely to drop out, with hidden costs proving too high for poorer parents.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has estimated that 68% of children in Uganda who enroll in primary school are likely to drop out before finishing the prescribed seven years.
Chad has the highest dropout rate in sub-Saharan Africa, at 72%. In east Africa, Kenya has the highest completion rate of 84%.
At a cabinet ministers’ retreat recently, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni expressed his rage over the rate at which pupils were leaving school, even when the country spent Shs900bn annually on the scheme. He said: “We should get an answer, and if you think it [UPE] needs to be restructured, we do that.”
The scheme faces a myriad of issues: gender challenges, child labour, early marriages, less motivated teachers, and lack of awareness among parents. However, the biggest challenge is poverty.
