Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has started the construction of Railways Seed Secondary School in Lira City to bring services closer to the people.
The Shs3.5 billion project is being implemented under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer (UGIFT) programme in the Eastern Division of Lira City. The project includes the construction of three classroom blocks, a library, a multi-purpose block, an administration block, and three units of staff houses, among others.
The construction is expected to start and will take 15 months.
Mr Jaspher Abura, the education officer of Lira City, said the project is part of the government policy to construct a secondary school in every sub-county.
“As we talk now, we have just received Shs900 million this financial year, and the money is already on our account. We expect the government to give us another balance in the new financial year,” Mr Abura told the Monitor on Monday.
“We have the contractor at the site and they have already started the work,” he added.
Mr George Wangira, the manager of Wangi General Enterprises Uganda Ltd, which will construct Railways Seed School, pledged to finish the work within the stipulated time.
Mr Jimmy Odongo, a resident of Railways Ward in East Division, said the school will be a blessing for children who have been walking long distances to access education services.
“There wasn’t any government secondary school in this area, but with the establishment of an institution, quality education will be brought nearer,” he said.
Mr Abura also revealed that there are plans to construct another seed school in West Division, Lira City.
He said the project will cost Shs5.4 billion, with support from Uganda Secondary School Expansion Programme (USSEP) “because it is a bigger project that will even include the boarding facilities for boys and girls”.
He added that the construction work may be delayed because the school is still struggling to process a land title.
“We still have issues with the land title of Ojwina, but we pray that our land board becomes functional so that we process the land title,” Mr Abura said.
Funding
Recently, Cabinet approved $390m (about Shs1.4 trillion) for both UgIFT and USSEP.
Of the total fund, $240m (about Shs889b) will be for UgIFT2 whereas the $150m (about Shs555.7b) will go into USSEP. The fund is a loan from World Bank. A total of 258 secondary schools will be constructed under both projects and this will include 142 secondary schools under UgIFT 2 and 116 others under USSEP.
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