Long distances contributing to children’s failure to complete Primary Level Education

Hapuyo sub county in Kyegegwa district has one government aided secondary school (Hapuyo seed school) and around 13 primary schools. The education standards have not been at a tune of what we may call improved service delivery the fact that there are challenges associated with achieving this. According to the Community development officer for Hapuyo sub county Ms Kasembo Jennifer, dropout rate is high in the sub county.

Ms Kasembo while speaking on the rural radio magazine segment on 16^th September 2015 at her office in Hapuyo said, ‘’ when you take an example of Kyanyambale primary school in Hapuyo sub county, 50 girls & 52 boys registered for primary seven this year (2015) but only 13 girls and 19 boys have registered for primary living examinations that start October this year. You can see that the dropout rate especially for girls is very high’’, said Ms Kasembo Jennifer the community development officer for Hapuyo Sub County.

Walking Long distances by pupils about 30 kilometers per day has contributed to increased rate of school dropout, domestic violence which make children fail to attend school and also failing to concentrate while in class, negative attitude towards education by parents & children and failure by parents to play their role in providing for the needs of their children especially scholastic materials have all contributed to the education situation in Hapuyo sub county, said Ms Kasembo Jennifer.

Much as the district local government has tried to construct classrooms at some schools, Magoma primary school which has a population of around 600 pupils still lack classrooms having only 3 blocks which can not contain the congestion in classrooms and in Kyanyambali primary school which has a population of 802 pupils, there are only 13 teachers making a ratio of pupil to teacher at 62:1 which is against the national education minimum standards ratio of 45:1.

Meanwhile the Hapuyo sub county health assistant Mr. Bwambale Albert said, as a sub county we still have a challenge on teaching the community the importance of hand washing which stands at 26% in the subcounty and yet most diseases that affect people originate from our homes. Hapuyo Sub County which has a population of over thirty people (30.000) has one health centre (health centre 111) and patients walk long distances coming for health services. People get information especially on hand wash but they immediately forget, we need to engage our health team more if we are to achieve on hygiene & sanitation in homes, Said Mr. Bwambale Albert the health assistant of Hapuyo Sub County in Kyegegwa district.

As a community member, we have a problem of water where some water sources dry up during dry seasons & sometimes the water is not safe for human use, we request our leaders to extend the gravity flow scheme to our villages. Our children walk long distances to go to school and to our disappointment teachers absenteeism is high, sometimes they come late & do not concentrate in class to help our children learn,’’ said Ms Kasapuli Yusta a community member from Mbara village, Hapuyo sub county in Kyegegwa district.

The rural radio magazine segment was amplified on Jubilee radio on 20^th September 2015, during the Listeners’ program that is aired live every Saturday 8:00pm-10:00pm on Jubilee radio a local radio station in Fort portal, Kabarole district

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