By Watera Atai,
MBALE
Authorities in Mbale district have raised concerns about the poor sanitation at Busajjabwankuba Primary School after it was found out that pupils and teachers are sharing a pit latrine.
This was during a meeting with school management, parents and community leaders presided over by the Mbale North Division deputy Resident City Commissioner, D/RCC Were Yahya in which it was established that the locals have turned the school into a dumping ground by wrongfully defecating in polythene papers and later dump their wasted in the school compound.
It was also established that the schools has a single five stance pit latrine that is shared with both male and female pupils and teachers which puts their lives at a risk of acquiring infections and other sanitary related diseases.
Emima Ndagire, the school headmistress disclosed that the pit latrine has developed cracks and administration is living in fears that it may collapse anytime. She added that they have no other alternatives but to share the same pit latrine with pupils.
“We also have inadequate classrooms, furniture and the school is not fenced which allows intruders including thugs to trespass into the school premises and disrupt learning,” said the headteacher.
She noted that they have occasionally written to the city education officials to come to their rescue but all in vain.
Busajjabwankuba PS has an enrollment of over 1,400 pupils and 22 teachers. The school single pit latrine was constructed by the government in the FY2006/2007 using school facility grants after the two existing ones collapsed.
During the meeting, the D/RCC Yahya said that he is going to engage the area mayor to ensure that the school is fenced and another pit latrine is constructed at the school.
“I’m going to engage with the mayor to see that they put a fence and another pit latrine at the school,” he said.
Yahya further directed local leaders to hold security meetings to combat crime rates that are increasingly raising in the area.
