Sironko: Parents decry poor state of schools

Parents in Bumunulo parish in Sironko district have decried the poor state of their school, Nabodi Primary School and have appealed to government for support.

The school is government aided with a population of 303 pupils.

The school opened doors to the community in 1994 under temporary structure with the hope of improvement.

Twenty five years down the road, the school has one permanent structure,  a two classroom block which accommodates two lower primary classes, while the rest attend lessons under a dilapidated mud and wattle facility.

"The structures you see were built by the students themselves," said Wilson Nasiina, a teacher.

This state of affairs exposes learners to harsh weather and risk of collapse of the structures.

As a result, lessons are halted whenever it rains to allow pupils and teachers relocate to a safer place.

The noise generated by the bung of  raindrops against the iron sheets also makes it impossible to complete lessons.

Activities in one class interrupt learning in the next one.

The classrooms are well furnished with desks engraved with the sub-county name.

However, some of the classes are over packed due to inadequate space.

The school stops at primary six due to inadequate classrooms.

Pupils seeking to further their education have to look elsewhere to complete primary seven.

The school has no headteacher's office and no staff room.

The veranda serves the purpose of a staff room. It is here that teachers converge to mark  books and to attend to pupils needs. The headteacher shares his office with one of the classrooms.

The state of sanitary facilities is equally disturbing.

Besides the urinals is a mat-walled improvised two stance latrine.

The only one stance permanent latrine has been spared for staff.

Last financial year, the district embarked on construction of a two classroom block with an additional room for the headteacher's office. In addition to a five stance latrine but this has taken longer than anticipated.

District authorities attribute the problem to inadequate funding.

Richard Wogabana, the chairperson school management committee appealed government to fast track the construction projects to improve the state of the school for better learning conditions.