Africa-Press – Uganda. Authorities in Mukono Municipality have intensified a crackdown on illegal schools, leaving at least 600 pupils stranded.
The latest operation conducted in Mukono Central Division on Tuesday saw two more schools closed and pupils ordered to return home. The affected schools include Bills Junior School, and Teddy and Dorah Primary School.
Ms Doreen Nakitto, the Mukono Municipal inspector of schools in-charge of Central Division, said the two schools were operating below the set education basic requirements and minimum education standards.
She said Bills Junior School, for example, was illegally operating a boarding section in unauthorised two rented rooms, which exposed pupils to danger. The school also lacks qualified teachers, enough classrooms, and two classes are mixed in a single room.
It also operates in dilapidated structures and teachers share the same toilets with pupils.
“We’ve engaged these school directors for so many years and during the recent holiday, we still inspected the schools and advised them not to open the boarding sections this year because the schools operate in condemned buildings, but they adamantly went ahead and opened,” Ms Nakitto said.
Teddy and Dorah Primary School was also operating in rented double rooms and family houses contrary to the set standards.
During the inspection, the school director, Mr Kizze Tenywa, and head teacher Joel Katumba allegedly mobilised teachers and pupils to gang up against Ms Nakitto and her team, something that sparked off a verbal exchange between the two parties, although this did not save the school from indefinite closure.
Mr Tenywa explained that many of his teachers have not yet returned from the long holiday and that if they fail to report back, plans are underway to recruit new ones.
Sweet Memories Junior School, on the other hand, survived being closed despite operating an illegal boarding section.
“I have given them one month to fix whatever is lacking and if they fail, they will also suffer the same fate,” Ms Nakitto warned.
A section of parents supported the ongoing crackdown on illegal schools because many have been conned of their hard-earned money.
“The operation is for the good of us and the future generation, but we pray that the authorities inform us early enough to be able to know unlicensed schools to avoid operating in losses after we have paid school dues,” Mr Amos Kityo, a parent, said.
Last week, as schools opened for the first term, authorities in Mukono Municipality arrested the director of Llona Children’s Centre and four teachers for operating an illegal education institution.
The school is located in the Canaan Site, Kasangalabi Village, Mukono Municipality.
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