Africa-Press – Uganda. In a bid to improve the academic performance for Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) candidates, parents and teachers of Opiro Olelai Primary School in Kaberamaido District have turned the Primary Seven class into a dormitory.
The facility serves as a classroom during day and as a boys’ dormitory at night.
According to the head teacher, Mr Raphael Okirror, the resolution was reached during a general meeting between the teachers, members of the PTA and the school management committee.
Mr Okirror said having learners living near increases teacher-learner hours, thereby addressing the academic performance.
Olelai Primary School has never recorded any first grade for the past 20 years.
“We hope by bringing these children here, we shall have enough time with them and their performance will improve,” Mr Okirror said.
Mr Elijah Okirror, a Primary Seven teacher, said from the time they started accommodating pupils at school, their performance has improved.
“The parents have welcomed the idea and are contributing food and money for the payment of a school cook and an askari to keep watch at night. We give breakfast, lunch, and supper to our children and they are healthy,” Mr Okirror said.
The Primary Seven class is meant to accommodate 50 learners and since they have an enrolment of only 35 this year, they had to partition the class to create room for a boarding section.
Ms Molly Monica Ongom, the Kaberamaido District education officer, said the poor academic performance throughout the district would be addressed.
She said government hopes to recruit more teachers and also address the teacher accommodation challenges.
She said there has been improvement in performance for the past three years.
“In 2020, we had 30 pupils in Division One and in 2021, we had 40 while in 2022 we had 59 passing in first grade in the whole district,” Ms Ongom said.
Teacher a accommodation
Poor performance in PLE in Kaberamaido District has also been attributed to lack of accommodation.
This as the authorities reveal that the district has a shortfall of more than 300 staff houses. Most teachers commute from their homes which are several kilometres away from school.
The ones who are accommodated at school live in deplorable conditions that have affected their performance.
However, the Kaberamaido County Member of Parliament, Mr Alfred Elalu Olale Edakasi, said he is skeptical of the recruitment of more teachers.
He asked government to improve school infrastructure so as to create more opportunities for boarding sections.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
