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600 pupils stranded after authorities close Lira school
Glory Light Junior School learners prepare to go home after the institution was closed over illegality on July 17, 2024. PHOTO/PATRICK EBONG
What you need to know:
- Authorities say the school founder disappeared two weeks ago after allegedly collecting an unspecified amount of money from parents.
About 600 pupils in Lira are stranded after the city authorities abruptly closed Glory Light Junior School over operating illegally.
Lira City education officer Jasper Abura accused the school proprietor of allegedly defrauding unsuspecting parents of their hard-earned money.
“He could tell parents that an NGO operating in Lango Sub-region was going to sponsor pupils who study at his school. Accordingly, parents were only required to pay half of the school fees,” education officials said.
Adding that: “The false promise led many parents to enroll their children, only to be devastated by its closure on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.”
Abura said the school founder disappeared two weeks ago after allegedly collecting an unspecified amount of money from parents.
None of the school teaching staff was aware of his dubious dealings since he had not even paid them their salaries, according to Abura.
Glory Light Junior School was reportedly operating two campuses including the Ngetta campus in Lira City East Division which catered for pupils from the nursery section to Primary Three.
Its Odokomit campus, located at the former Lira High School catered for Primary Four to Primary Seven pupils. This campus is in Barapwo ward, Lira City West Division.
“The school was operating illegally without the knowledge of the city education department and it had no operational license to run the entity,” Abura told Monitor on Wednesday.
He blamed parents for taking their children to study at schools whose future they are unsure of.
“People should be careful and avoid scammers who traverse the community convincing parents that they will offer bursaries either within the Lango Sub-region or outside," he warned.
Efforts to reach out to the proprietor of Glory Light Junior School were fruitless since his known mobile number was not available by press time.
