Africa-Press – Uganda. As schools nationwide reopened for term one on Monday, pupils at Bulekei Primary School in Lunyo Sub-county, Busia District, missed lessons after parents protested over “poor academic performance.”
The protest followed the release of the 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) through which 38 candidates at the government-aided school were ungraded with the best obtaining 28/26 aggregates.
According to the Ugandan grading system, the best PLE candidate obtains 4 aggregates in four subjects.
On Monday, angry parents armed with sticks and brandishing placards stormed Bulekei Primary School demanding for immediate transfer of the head teacher, Tadeo Odula.
Andrew Juma, one of the parents, said: “Since Odula’s deployment in 2019, the performance of PLE has deteriorated and we can’t allow this to continue.”
Humphrey Makokha, another parent, said “instead of organising teachers to help learners improve on their academic performance, the headmaster had reportedly devoted most of his time taking learners to his garden, hence the poor results.”
Bulekei Village LC1 chairman Patrick Makokha, under whose jurisdiction the school falls, accused Odula of “presiding over poor results since 2019 yet the school had previously been one of the best-performing in the district.”
Dennis Musisi, a secondary school teacher and former student, told that during his time, “the school excelled at PLE, but it appears there is no teaching going on.”
“You cannot register 38 candidates and have the best candidate in Division Three and the rest aggregate 36,” he added.
Patrick Munyaho, a member of the school management committee, noted that he was “surprised” that Odula had kept away from the school on the first day of the calendar academic year.
“We asked the headmaster to provide us with the (PLE) results, but nothing has happened to-date,” he said.
Busia District inspector of schools Kennedy Menya revealed that Odula had just been at his office to pick the PLE results and that this week, they are expected to meet all the head teachers of government-aided schools that performed poorly.
But Lunyo Sub-county LC3 chairman Bonex Taabu urged that “Odula should be transferred” warning that “it will be difficult for him to work with parents who want him out.”
Of the 749,254 candidates registered for 2023 PLE, UPE learners accounted for 501, 602.
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