Kyankaramata primary school in appalling state

Kyenjojo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Kyankaramata government-aided primary school in Kihuura Sub County Kyenjojo district is in sorry state. The school, which has an enrollment of 314 pupils, has a single permanent structure, which accommodates the staff room, P.1, and P.2 classes.

The rest of the classes operate in temporary structures built using timber, which is rotting away. The classrooms also lack doors and enough benches for the learners. The floors are full of mud and stagnant water that fills up the structures especially in the rainy season.

Samuel Zimbe, a P.6 and P.7 teacher, says this is the worst kind of learning environment that any pupil can ever be in. He explains that due to the nature of the building materials, they are unable to incorporate other teaching methods like use of charts since they don’t have where to hang them.

Zimbe also says classes are often interrupted by bad weather like rain and hailstorm, which force pupils to run for shelter in the permanent structure.

Additionally, Zimbe notes that the classrooms are too unhygienic as they become exceedingly dusty in the dry season while in the wet season; they get filled with mud and stagnant water. The Deputy Head Teacher, Julius Kaija Mugabo, says the school is also struggling to maintain sanitation because they have only one two-stance pit latrine that pupils share with teachers.

Mugabo notes that there are times when pupils opt for open defecation because the available stances are not enough. He also says that teachers always find themselves in embarrassing situations when they go to ease themselves and find all the stances occupied.

To the deputy head teacher, this deplorable situation has seen the school that started in 1990 fail to perform well in Primary Leaving Examinations – PLE even when they have the required number of trained teachers. Results from the school show that the primary school has never had a pupil score a first grade.

For instance, in 2017, only seven students sat PLE and of these, four scored second grade while three were in third grade. In 2018, 17 candidates sat PLE but only nine managed to score second grade while the rest were in third grade.

The poor learning conditions coupled with the unhygienic environment are also being blamed for the worryingly low completion rate at the school as most pupils fail to withstand the conditions and quit.  For example, of the 70 pupils that were admitted in P.1 in 2011, only seven completed P.7.

Mugabo says that their efforts to see the school improve have been futile as all their letters to the District Education Officer – DEO, Gertrude Tibakanya, and Chief Administrative Officer – CAO Samule Kaija never get responses.

Kaija said he wasn’t aware that the school was in such a condition. He promised to visit the school and establish all their needs so that they can include it in the 2020/2021 financial year budget since they don’t have any money in their coffers this financial year.

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