Buvuma: MP blames poor education performance to lack of electricity

The Woman MP for Buvuma, Jennifer Egunyu Nantume has blamed the poor education standards in the district on the lack of electricity.

She made the remarks at a function where MTN foundation handed over solar panels to nine schools and three health centres.

She noted that most of the pupils use torches to read their books.

"Buvuma district is one of the three or four districts that don’t have power in the whole of Uganda despite the fact that they have made surveys and promised that in the short term electricity will be provided here,"she said.

She called upon leaders to come in and help in devising solutions to the problems faced by the locals in the district.

She said the district has over 6,000 school going children, but most parents cannot afford to take their children to the few schools available due to long distances involved.

She said this has resulted into high cases of early marriages, child labour and poor academic performance in the Island district.

Brian Mbasa ,the senior manager MTN foundation noted that MTN has decided to work together with other companies to implement path solutions to solar for schools and health centres in various parts of the country.

“We have partnered with Phoenix Company international. Phoenix is a solar company and also a part of MTN family and what we have done is to identify areas across Uganda where there is no grid power,"he said.

Hussein Bugembe, the principal education officer in Buvuma district decried the many challenges faced by school going children in the island.

"We still have students sitting S.4 exams without having any opportunity to read their books because when they go back home, the parents are not also well off so they lack solar power,"he said.

He noted that the environment the students are learning in is not conducive due to lack of electricity which has affected their performance in schools.