Pupils in Arua and Maracha-Terego district spend most of their productive time queuing for short and long calls. According to a survey carried out in both districts several schools in the district lack latrines.
The survey indicates that 140 pupils share one latrine in both Maracha-Terego and Arua district, with girls being the most affected.
While presenting the findings, Milton Avasi, the Executive Director for Pincer Group International that did the survey said that because of the latrine problem children use the excuse of the long ques to dodge lessons.
The survey has been backed by the district education authorities who say the problem has remained stagnant due to poor funding. The primary schools have been receiving meager UPE funds that could not be budgeted for construction of latrines.
The survey was carried out by the Pincer Group International on the education status in 40 districts in Uganda with funding from USAID.
He says there was urgent need for government to secure funds specifically for latrine construction. Milton said shortage of latrines has led to drop out of pupils especially among girls who find them unsafe.
Bernard Atiku, the Chairman Arua Social Services says that the district will act on the report but urges head teachers to utilize the available resources to fix some of the problems.
He says that the numerous problems contribute to the poor performance in schools in the district. He called for support from the donor community to rescue the situation.
Kefa Arima, the head teacher of Awika primary where the research was conducted attributes the problems in schools to government’s failure to increase UPE funding.
He says that previously toilets were constructed with funding from the School Facilitation Grant but the money is selectively distributed.
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written by bobkabindi, October 06, 2009
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written by luwemba musa, July 26, 2010
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