Buyende school resorts to grass thatched hostels 

Buyende Seed Secondary School in Buyende District has endured years of challenges with accommodation, which has prompted its administration to resort to grass thatched hostels.

The head teacher, Mr Robert Mungoma, said the current student enrolment at the government-aided school stands at 1,543 students; 882 girls and 761 boys.

He said when the government constructed the school and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was later deployed on the lakes to combat illegal fishing practices, many students were lured back to study, but that came at the cost of sleeping in grass thatched hostels.

“The problem with these grass thatched hostels is that girls host their boyfriends disguised as visiting brothers and relatives, and we can’t monitor them, hence the dreaded issue of early pregnancy is carried forward,” Mr Mungoma said at the weekend.

Mr Mungoma further explained that after a crisis meeting with parents in 2023, teachers surrendered two staff quarters to the girls in candidate classes for use as dormitories and it reportedly paid off two fold.

“We secured the candidate girls who registered and sat for the final national examinations and put up a much-improved performance,” Mr Mungoma added.

Buyende District Education Officer Dison Bwire said they have written to the Ministry of Education, requesting for a dormitory budget allocation, but they are yet to get a response.

But he said the district council is allocating some funds for repairs and securing the computer laboratories, while engaging parents to do something in that direction. During the belated Buyende District Women’s Day celebrations at Iringa Township School last week, the girls narrated their plight to the Minister for Presidency, Ms Milly Babalanda, who was the chief guest.

“Madam, we are insecure at the grass thatched hostels,” Ms Fortunate Kisakye, the Girls’ Empowerment Movement chairperson, told the minister.

Ms Hope Hadaasha the Peer Educators and Mentors coordinator, said the government initiative to construct a Shs2.1b school in the hard-to-reach area was a “Godsend gift” after the Covid-19 pandemic as it offered opportunity for the out of school children to re-enroll.

She, however, said the government missed the provision of dormitories to secure the girls from parents who look to them as “capital” to solve their financial problems, and randy men scouring the area for easy prey.

The Buyende District chairperson, Mr Michael Kanaku, asked parents to mobilise and contribute bricks and locally-available building materials to kick start an initiative of a girls’ dormitory and attract other development partners.

“Plan International empowered the girls to sensitise, counsel, advocate and through its Girls Empowerment Movement and Peer Educators, we received a petition highlighting a red flag on the plight of the girls and calling for a girls’ dormitory,” he said.

“We had a full council session though our pledge stretches to the next financial year and will be little to kick start it,” Mr Kanaku added.

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