Busia govt school operates for thirty years without lab

A government school in Busia District has operated for 30 years without a laboratory, which stakeholders say paints a grim picture of excelling in science subjects.

On Monday, Mr Peter Kitale, a teacher of chemistry at Lunyo Hill Secondary School in Busia District, was found taking his Senior Two class of about 80 students through a lesson.

With him were two beakers with liquids with which he demonstrated the differences between immiscible and miscible solutions.

Ordinarily, he would have carried out the demonstrations in a laboratory setting, with each of the students having a hands-on experience of the session, but that was not possible because the school lacks a laboratory and has limited equipment and chemicals.

Mr Kitale noted that because of the lack of facilities for the laboratory, he has been forced to improvise by having students in large groups while moving around each group, an innovation he says consumes a lot of time and undermines the rate of syllabus coverage.

“I would have preferred to have this lesson conducted in a laboratory where each learner has a chance to carry out the practical, but our school lacks one and we have limited equipment,” Mr Kitale said on Monday.

“I have carried these two beakers to demonstrate to them (students). By the time the lesson ends, it will be lunch time and learners will move out,” he added. Further, he said despite the government enhancing the pay for teachers of science subjects, the Education ministry should focus on ensuring that schools such as Lunyo Hill Secondary School have functional laboratories with running water and all the chemicals and apparatus needed.

He compared the situation they find themselves into farmers who go to the garden without a hoe yet are expected to bring home a good harvest.

Mr Samuel Barasa, the headmaster, said they have a “store” and not a “laboratory”.

“This school has operated without a laboratory since it was established; we, however, have two classrooms which were constructed by the parents, which we have reverted to as stores for our few science apparatus and chemicals,” Mr Barasa said.

He added that lack of practical teaching has led to the underperformance of candidates in science subjects, noting that many candidates were failing Science subjects compared to Arts subjects.

Mr Barasa said it is time the government shifted to focus on building laboratories in disadvantaged schools like Lunyo Hill Secondary School.

Ms Sarah Nsanji, a teacher of Biology and Chemistry at the school, said because of the lack of facilities for sciences, they sometimes carry out theory teaching instead of the practical lessons being emphasised by the line ministry.

She said this has affected the quality of teaching and negatively impacted the learners’ academic performance.

“When Uganda National Examinations Board releases Uganda Certificate of Education results, the best a candidate may have scored in sciences is a Credit Four, while the majority fail,”  she said.

Ms Nsanji added that learners are inclined to develop a negative attitude towards such subjects. 

Background

The school was established in 1991 by parents and was taken over by the government in 1995.  At the close of last term, the school had a total enrolment of 573 students.

Student speaks out

  Javerns Oundo, a Senior Three student, said whereas the government has posted science teachers at their school, which he said was “good”, they hardly undertake practical learning as required yet they have less than two terms to be in Senior Four. Oundo said without effective teaching of sciences, the Ministry of Education should make science subjects optional because “it makes no sense for one to register a subject which he feels he will fail because the school lacks facilities”.

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