Gordon Musinguzi a resident pointing to the classrooms of Gomero Primary School. The District Authorities have resolved to close it
Authorities in Nakaseke district have closed a government primary school over the high pupil dropout rate.
Gomero Primary School in Ngoma Town Council was constructed by parents in the early 2000s’ and later handed to the government for management.
By 2006, the school had a population of more than 700 pupils from the villages of Gomero A, Gomero B, Kamusenene and Bukomba, among others. However, the number of learners in the school dwindled from 2011, leaving it with only three pupils at the time of school closures in March 2020.
Gordon Musinguzi, a resident of Ngoma Town Council says that parents transferred their children to private schools, citing a decline in education standards, which was attributed to the district’s failure to deploy and supervise teachers.
He says that by 2019, the school had only three teachers, who sometimes reported late for work or did not report at all.
Kenneth Nyabaza, an old boy of Gomero Primary School said that he studied at the school for only two years but was also transferred to another school after his parents became sceptical about the education standards, which declined drastically after the hand over of the school to the government.
Now, Steven Batanudde, the Nakaseke District Education Officer says that Gomero Primary School will remain closed even after the government reopens schools in January 2022. He explained that the school run out of learners before the COVID 19 lockdown because their parents who were also pastoralists shifted to other areas.
Batanudde says that the district, in consultation with local leaders, has agreed to close the school and transfer the available teachers to Kirangaazi Chance Primary school.
Nakaseke District Chairman, Ignatius Koomu Kiwanuka says that the district made administrative changes and mobilized parents to bring back the learners to the school in vain. Koomu also expressed concern over the decline in the number of learners across government schools in the district.
In 2013, Bugabo Primary School in Kapeeke Sub County, Nakaseke district suffered a high pupil dropout rate after learners resorted to fishing. The Pupils dropped from 340 to 49 pupils in the year.
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