Government-aided primary schools in hard-to-reach areas in Kasese District are grappling with severe challenges that continue to undermine pupils’ academic performance, despite efforts by education stakeholders to improve learning outcomes. In Maliba Sub-county, Kamabwe Primary School is among the worst hit.
The school lacks permanent classroom structures, forcing pupils to study under worn-out tents that are in a sorry state. When it rains, lessons are often disrupted, and on hot days the tents become unbearably hot, making concentration difficult for learners.
At Kitoko Primary School, another government-aided school in a hard-to-reach part of Kasese, is struggling the lack of staff quarters. Ezra Muhindo the School head teacher Kitoko primary, says the absence of accommodation at the school means teachers must travel long distances on poor roads, often arriving late or missing lessons entirely during bad weather.
He says the current structure accommodates four of the eleven full time teachers.At St. Johns Maliba Primary School, the administrators say majority of the pupils do not get lunch, and in many cases come to school without even breakfast. Edson Masereka Mafunguro, the head teacher, he says hunger makes it hard for learners to focus and hence affecting their general school performance.
At St. Johns Maliba Primary School, the administrators say majority of the pupils do not get lunch, and in many cases come to school without even breakfast. Edson Masereka Mafunguro, the head teacher, he says hunger makes it hard for learners to focus and hence affecting their general school performance.
Education stakeholders in the area link these issues poor infrastructure, absence of teacher accommodation and lack of feeding at school to the persistent low literacy and numeracy levels in many government-aided schools in Kasese’s hard-to-reach zones.
Moses Kabinga, the Inspector of Schools in Kasese, says there is a lot that is still missing to fix in the education sector to have better grades but this must be efforts of all stakeholders. He is also rallying leaders in high offices to drum for improved infrastructure in government aided schools especially in hard to reach areas like Kasese.
During a monitoring exercise of government projects in Busongora North, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Kasese, Lt. Joe Walusimbi, acknowledged the challenges and assured teachers and school leaders that government is moving to address the issue of lack of enough classrooms at these hard to reach schools.
He insists that school feeding must also be prioritized as a hungry child cannot learn effectively, regardless of the quality of buildings or teacher presence. URN