Last Updated on: 1st January 2022, 03:08 pm
“Most of the school property that was being distributed by the government were destroyed by local community and termites,” Rev. Father Charles Onen, MP Gulu City East Division.
By Okot Lil Romeo
Gulu – January 1, 2022: Lukome Lawiyedul primary school in Gulu City is one of the government-aided primary schools founded by the Church of Uganda.
Late last year, its headteacher was tasked to explain why government property was destroyed by termites. Some of the properties include textbooks and homeschooling materials which were to be distributed to the learners during the lockdown.
The mess made by the termites came to the limelight after over 50 parents volunteered to do general cleanliness at the school in preparation for reopening on January 10.
Parents were shocked to find over 200 textbooks already destroyed by termites. There was no staff, including the security guard hired to protect school assets.
Eveline Acola is the headteacher of Lukome Lawiyedul primary school. She has denied responding to some questions about the school’s damaged assets.
“All home based learning materials were distributed to all the learners,” she replied, adding that, “The challenge is the school has no store to keep the schools property. We are mixing learning materials with food for staffs and other utensils.”
According to Acola, the above factors contributed to termites eating some learning materials.
More problems
She said the school has a shortage of boys’ pit latrine which is now full. She is appealing to the government to construct a new one.
‘‘No accommodation for the headteacher at school. We only have two staff houses which cannot accommodate 12 teachers, for me, I come Omoro district,” she told TND News.
Rev. Father Charles Onen, MP Gulu City East Division said most of the school property that was being distributed by the government were destroyed by local community and termites.
“Half of home based learning books; school’s doors, lighting arrester and many others were destroyed in Lukome primary school,” he revealed.
MP Onen urged that schools should be fenced, staff houses also to be constructed to avoid teachers coming from afar. “This will bridge the gaps of the late coming of teachers for lessons.”
The MP further asked parents to keep following their children when school reopen to promote the good performance of their children.
“I am appealing to the government not to put the learning institution into lockdown again as there is an increase in teenage pregnancy cases in Uganda.”
Geoffrey Otim, Division Mayor of Laroo-Pece said all schools within the City will be given total support and equal treatment in learning tools to promote the good performance of the learners.
“The department of education and sports will design a program for monthly sitting for examinations to uplift the levels of education in Gulu city.”
Otim, however, urged that as a Division Mayor they are going to work on bad roads which may affect the learning and maintain it.
He warned teachers and headteachers who are coming from outside the City to report for duty immediately, telling parents to desist from stealing and vandalizing school property “because the property belongs to the young generation”.
Principal Education Officer [PEO] Richard Irwenyo said during the lockdown, the Ministry of Education and Sport advised all the headteachers to do daily checkups of their schools.
Irwenyo was disappointed to see home-based learning materials provided by the government destroyed by termites.
“Gulu City has a total of 26,700 pupils, 41 government primary schools, 7 government secondary schools and 4 tertiary institutions and 76 private schools,” PEO announced.
Very sad to hear that in this era a whole head teacher can withhold home learning materials that were meant to be distributed during lockdown all to be destroyed by termites,this is incompetence and she deserves firing from that post.