Africa-Press – Uganda. In the run-up to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Seven Hills run scheduled for July 2, the Nation Media Group [NMG] has pledged to publicise all its activities.
The NSSF Seven Hills run is aimed at raising Shs1b meant for the renovation of selected public schools in the country.
Under the arrangement, NMG pledged free publicity across all its media platforms estimated to cost Shs60m.
Speaking at the handover of the Shs60m dummy cheque yesterday, Mr Johnson Omollo, the general manager of NTV Uganda, said they are sponsoring the run as part of their corporate social responsibility since the money expected to be raised would support the education sector by rehabilitating some public schools that are in a sorry state.
“NMG is happy to partner with NSSF. We are supporting the run aimed at supporting the education sector in the country in all four regions. We are sponsoring up to Shs60 million in advertising to promote the event happening on July 2 for all public schools in the country,” he said.
The government has faced criticism over its failure to appropriate enough resources for the rehabilitation of mainly its upcountry schools. Sadly, some learners still study under trees. It is upon this background that NSSF sought to partner with other organisations.
Renovation of public schools is the duty of the government but Mr Patrick Ayota, the acting managing director of NSSF, explains that the Shs1b intervention is timely and would go a long way in reducing the school dropout rates.
He said that experience has shown that in schools where they have intervened, they have registered improvement in retaining the learners in schools, have improved enrollment, and recorded better grades due to a good studying environment.
However, in an interview with other sponsors last month, Mr Ayota said the Shs1b is earmarked to rehabilitate 10 schools across the country.
“By renovating a school, you are giving a chance to the next lawyer, doctor, and the next architect in Uganda to study. We are focusing on the government-aided schools in the four traditional regions of Uganda that is where there is a lot of dilapidation. So far, we have supported 12 schools starting from Kampala before we spread out to rural areas,” he said.
In Uganda, most of the public primary and secondary schools were established by faith-based foundation bodies. The government took over some of their management to offer free primary and secondary education to Ugandans.
During the press conference, Mr Ayota said under the previous runs, the Fund managed to renovate 60 classroom blocks across the country and improved sanitation in 13 Kampala Capital City Authority schools.
However, just like in other public institutions in the country, including public universities, maintenance of the infrastructure is a common challenge.
Some of the popular schools in the country since independence have enjoyed the patronage of the alumni, who have taken on the responsibility to renovate the old structures they identify with or are constructing new facilities in their former schools.
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