Prime
Govt probes Mityana District officials over ghost school
A pupil walks past the deserted Kitetaaga Primary School in Mityana District last week. PHOTO BY JESSICA NABUKENYA
What you need to know:
- Allegations. The school has been receiving government funding despite not being operational.
Mityana.
Mityana District education department officials are under investigation following allegations that they have been pocketing funds for a non-operational government-aided primary school.
The institution in question is Kitetaaga Primary School in Kalangaalo Sub-county, Mityana District.
It appears in the district education department records but has no single pupil apart from the physical structures yet it has been receiving government funding.
When Daily Monitor visited the school before the closure of first term recently, all classrooms were under lock and key, with no sign of pupils. The school is said to have six teachers on government payroll. However, none of them was found at the school during working hours.
Mr Yahaya Kakooza, the resident district commissioner, said he has started investigations after receiving complaints from concerned residents.
Mr Kakooza said he has already visited the school with the district chairman and their findings are not different from what Daily Monitor has established.
RDC’s concern
“The school was completely closed with no teacher on the ground; that there were no pupils schooling in it. But we are still investigating the matter and all district officials who have been swindling public funds in the guise of funding a school, which has no pupils, will be arrested,” he said.
It is still unclear how much money had been swindled so far and for how long the ghost school has been receiving government funding. But Mr Kakooza said he had heard that the school had not opened for Term One which closed on May 4.
The RDC added that upon interrogating Mr Fred Kaweesi, the school head teacher, the latter said he resolved to close the school after its population reduced to zero but continued getting funds to settle outstanding debts.
“He [Kaweesi] has been getting his salary and capitation grants of Shs600,000 per term but he has promised to refund the money,” Mr Kakooza said.
However, when contacted, Mr Kaweesi maintained that the school has been operating but with only three pupils, after the founder, Mr George Kato, told parents to take away their children to other schools.
“The school has been operational and all the five teachers have been receiving their salaries apart from the one teaching Primary One, who was knocked off the pay roll after absconding from duty,” he said in an interview at the weekend.
The head teacher added that the school will be revamped next term.
But some of the sub-county leaders, who preferred anonymity in order to speak freely about this matter, said the school used to operate normally two years ago but due to frequent absence of teachers, parents withdrew their children and enrolled them in other schools.
They said they had made numerous reports to the district leaders about a ghost school operating in their area but no had one picked interest.
Community’s concerns
Mr Joseph Kuteesa, one of the residents, expressed concern over the existing empty classrooms, which he said are not benefiting the community.
“It is a pity that we have a government facility which does not help us. It is even becoming dangerous to the community as wrongdoers may use the abandoned classrooms for bad things,” Mr Kuteesa said.
Mr Gerald Ssali, the district inspector of schools, said they are aware of the ghost school but cannot make conclusions until they establish the exact truth.
“We have resolved to convene a general meeting; parents and all community members will attend so that we hear from them,” Mr Ssali said.
Mr Kakooza said he is optimistic that the school will re-open next term because the pupils are in the villages and can return to the school, but stressed that serious investigations into the matter must be carried out.
Reports of ghost pupils and schools have been cropping up ever since the Universal Primary Education programme was introduced 20 years ago.
