Early last year, the directorate of Education Standards in the ministry of Education and Sports closed more than ten schools in Kibaale district due to substandard facilities or unqualified tutors. However, on his trip to Kibaale, JAMES SSEKANDI came across one such school, run by a Congolese fisherman.
Since 2008, Mukuno nursery and primary community school has been trying to offer an education. It is unclear why this school remains open despite its derelict condition and location.
The school, located on Kamina fishing village on the shores of Lake Albert, is in the mountainous parish in Ndaiga sub-county, just behind Kyaterekere trading centre in Kibaale.
To get there, one has to brave a two-hour ride on a motorcycle, bumping along rocky paths, from Kyaterekere trading centre, at a cost Shs 35,000 per head.
Bright Kito is head of this school. He completed his O-level studies at St Kirigwajjo SS also in Kibaale, in 2007 and was unable to further his learning due to lack of finances. Once out of school, Kito initially started out as a fisherman with his father, before he found out that there was a lucrative job opening.
“In 2011, my father told me about a school [Mukuno] that wanted people who can teach,” says Kito. He applied and secured the job along with another senior-four graduate - Rose Twesige.
“It is only me and Rose who have senior-four slips,” he adds.
The rest of the six teachers at this school have only studied up to primary seven! These eight teachers administer 176 registered learners, who come from Kamina, Kabukanga and Kitebere and Ndaiga landing sites.
“That’s the only school available for a community of 3,600 people,” says Gerald Mugume, a parent at the school.
The school serves a community of several nationalities, including Batuku, Batooro, Bakiga, Bakonzo, and Alur. Although the school has two nursery levels and primary one to seven, it operates without a license from the education ministry.
“We [teachers] have two textbooks, which are reserved for P5 to P7, and for the other classes we use our former books,” Twesige weighed in on the situation.
Parents with nursery kids pay Shs 50,000, while those in P1 to P5 part with Shs 70,000 per term. Those who are about to complete the learning cycle, from P6 to P7, are required to pay Shs 100, 000 per term.
When asked about the school’s situation, Joram Ssali Sekitoleko, the assistant chief administrative officer, admitted that the school is operating illegally. Those who complete P7 are not eligible to sit for primary leaving exams as it is not recognised by the ministry, indicating that chances of a professional emerging out of this school are virtually non-existent.
According to Kito, only one learner has ever left Mukuno nursery and PS to join another school.
“That pupil went to St Kirigwajjo PS, several miles away from here, and he was made to repeat from P5. He is still there,” Kito said. Not many have money to enable their children to continue beyond this.
Apart from the unqualified teachers, Mukuno lacks everything, with rickety classrooms, which have twice been blown away by the rain because of its location. It also lacks latrines. But this is not a unique situation as Mugume confirms that the whole village has no formal sanitary facilities.
jsekandi@gmail.com