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Masaka Secondary School receives US$2m grant
With a student population of 3700 the school is in desperate need of additional infrastructure and the administrators say the grant will go a long way in helping out on the situation. PHOTO BY MICHAEL SSALI
What you need to know:
The school has a bulging population of students putting a strain on the limited infrastructure which the grants is hoped to relieve.
Masaka Secondary School has got a grant of US $ 2 million from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Uganda to boost its infrastructure. The headmaster of the school Hajj Musa Musoke Mpungu told Daily Monitor on September 11, 2012 that the money is to be used to construct a multi-purpose hall, a computer center, a classroom block, a library, furniture, and science teaching equipment. He said the construction contract has been awarded to HL Construction Ltd which has promised to complete the project within one year.
Founded in 1954, Masaka Secondary School has a student population of over 3700 and is the largest secondary school in the region. The Project Coordinator, Mr. Nelson Wanambi, said that Masaka SS is one of the beneficiary schools under the ADB IV Project and that it is to be expanded.
Hajj Mpungu said the construction work had actually officially began, the ground breaking ceremony having taken place just a few days back.
A lot of local leaders’ attention has been drawn to the project to ensure quality work. Masaka District Chairman, Joseph Kalungi, Masaka Mayor, Godfrey Kayemba Afaayo, the RDC, Bamusede Bwambale, and the School’s Board of Governors Chairman, Hajj Hussein Ssengendo and other local leaders were present at the ground breaking ceremony at which Mr. Alfred Kyaka from the Ministry of Education represented the Government of Uganda.
Wanambi further said that according to the loan agreement between the Government of Uganda and ADB the mode of procurement was International Competitive Bidding (ICB) as defined by the ADB Rules of Procedure for Procurement of Goods and Works. The project has also recruited a multi-disciplinary consortium of consultants, including Arch-Tech Consultants, M&E Associates, DEC Consultants and Geomaps Africa Limited, to oversee the supervision and management of the civil works.
During the execution of the civil works, there will be scheduled monthly site meetings to which all the local leaders and other stakeholders will be invited to attend and participate. Minutes of the site meetings will be circulated to all stakeholders.
Hajj Mpungu however said that the school’s expansion is to be in form of infrastructure but not necessarily in student population. “Added infrastructure should mean better quality teaching and better learning environment,” he said.
