Africa-Press – Uganda. The management of Lweru Senior Secondary School in Buikwe District has decried the poor state of the institution’s science laboratory and staff houses.
The head teacher, Mr Hamza Ssebunya, told Daily Monitor last week that the science laboratory, built 13 years ago by the government, was not completed, and the construction works were done poorly.
The laboratory, which was built under the Adaptable Programme Loan (APL) project, was reportedly unfinished after the contractor allegedly claimed they had run out of funds.
Mr Ssebunya said as a result, the laboratory benches and sinks are broken, while the water and gas systems were not installed.
“Government is emphasising teaching of sciences, but we are finding it hard to teach them since our laboratory is in a pathetic state,” Mr Ssebunya said.
“Students have to fetch water and also use charcoal stoves whenever they have science practical lessons, which is tiresome,” he said.
Mr Ssebunya added that they also do not have enough science teachers, which has led to poor performance of science subjects in the school.
Teachers desert houses
The head teacher added that the eight staff houses built about 20 years ago, are all dilapidated and teachers have since abandoned them.
“Many teachers live far away from the school, which impedes effective teaching of learners,” Mr Ssebunya said.
He said the school is among those which didn’t receive the government’s renovation funds after the reopening of all education institutions in January.
Mr Ssebunya said they have written to the Ministry of Education several times about the plight of the school, but have not received any positive response.
“They keep telling us we shall see and even some officials from the ministry visited the school to assess the situation, but nothing has been done,” he said.
The district chairperson, Mr Jimmy Kanaabi, said he directed the chief administrative officer to write to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary about the state of the school.
“Of all the secondary schools in Buikwe, it is only Lweru SS in a sorry state and urgently needs a facelift.
Other schools such as Ngogwe Baskerville have been refurbished,” he said.
Efforts to reach Mr Sam Kuloba, the commissioner for government secondary schools, were futile as he did not answer our repeated calls.
But Mr Dennis Mugimba, the ministry spokesperson, said he was not aware of the state of the school.
“I don’t know that issue because it is administrative,” he said.
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