By Patricia Turyahebwa.
Parents of Kawaala college school are in grief after the school Director Herbert Lujja decided to turn the school into residentials for tenants after he patiently waited for almost three months since schools were suspended due to the spread of novel Corona virus which has dragged the whole world into health crisis.
Nuwamanya (firstname withheld), a guardian at the school says that she doesn’t know what is next for her daughter since the school was near and instrumental to the community.
“May God help us,now my daughter was on school bursary,am asking myself how am going to handle this because am a single mother and I can’t raise money for her to be in boarding now that the school director is in plans of relocating the school to Seeta branch” Namuwaya Lamented.
Dennis Were whose brother is in a candidate class says that the school has been the destination of each and every student in the community.
“Government must handle such issues because our school has been good to the community with international facilities like driving, catering,computer lessons which are barelyfound elsewhere I can’t tell what is next for our children as they were all to join the school that is in the neighborhood” Were stated.
When contacted,Herbery Lujja, the Director told Parrotsug that due to Corona virus pandemic, management couldn’t afford some facilities required to to operate. He said that school management is proposing to transfer students in candidate classes and those on bursary scheme to another campus in Seeta Mukono.
Asked why he would do this in this COVID-19 pandemic, Lujja further noted that an agreement was reached to create rooms for staff members in case government makes it mandatory for all teachers to reside within school premises.
This however left Peter Tamale, the LCII chairman of Kasubi zone II in suspicions asking himself about where the teachers have been residing for the last 20years the school has been in existence.
“It’s alleged that the director is incapable of handling some of the directives set by the Ministry of Health like social distancing in case schools are allowed to resume, however he may act that he is still around,but for the last twenty years,where were these teachers residing.”Tamale wondered.
Chairman Tamale sympathized with employees stating that many are likely to loose jobs, like the cooks, Askaris, Teachers and small scale business operators citing out possible crimes such as early marriages, idleness.
He appealed to government to bail out people with such businesses who are Changing their mindsets in this situation noting that most schools are ran by loans therefore when the owners fail to pay, they end up making embarassing decisions like what Lujja has done.
“You may find when he had no option instead of his school being taken away by the bank,he rather do rentals to generate some income that he can survive on.” Tamale added.
In defence, Lujja could neither admit nor refute the allegations; he insisted that currently the school cannot run in a compact space when it has a bigger space in another branch.
In his speech address on the status of Corona virus, Museveni said government had postponed reopening dates for candidate classes and finalists in schools and education institutions to more 30days due to lack of adequate resources such as testing kits to carry out tests to learners upon report.
