Lira police close private school in own barracks
The entrance to Police Nursery Primary School in Gulu City. Police say the school has been operating illegally on their land. PHOTO | CHARITY AKULLO
What you need to know:
- Mr Anatoli Katungwensi, the North Kyoga regional police commander, said the decision was made after efforts to meet the management and directors of the school were futile as the real directors could not be traced.
Police in Lira City have revealed that a nursery school, which was constructed in the police barracks, has been operating illegally.
The school, which is privately owned and has been in service for more than 10 years, has been operating without the knowledge of authorities.
The police said they do not know who owns the school, its vision, mission, and the objectives of its establishment.
On Tuesday, the Uganda Police Force shut down the facility, which had about 250 children and seven teachers.
Mr Anatoli Katungwensi, the North Kyoga regional police commander, said the decision was made after efforts to meet the management and directors of the school were futile as the real directors could not be traced.
“I tried to find out about the management and the school board and I could not access any, and all efforts to have its management harmonise its operations with police have been fruitless,” Mr Katungwensi said.
He added: “So, as the manager of police assets, I had to take action and as of now, we have suspended the operations of that nursery school because it is private and it doesn’t belong to police.”
Mr Jimmy Patrick Okema, the regional police spokesperson, said the caretakers of the school were told to inform police that the area they were using for the school does not belong to police but no formal documents to that effect were presented.
“We have lost a lot of police land and property to land grabbers and opportunists, we can’t lose our barracks. The owners of the school are thus advised to relocate from the barracks and cease to use the name of police for the nursery school because it neither belongs nor is affiliated to police,” he said.
He added: “They can remove all their movable non-permanent assets. Parents are advised to have their children join Lira Police Primary School to avoid any inconveniences as the new school term opens.”
Ms Beatrice Angwech, the head teacher of Lira Police Nursery School, said many children who reported to school were left stranded when they found that it was closed.
“Our school gate was locked by police administration while classrooms were also occupied by police personnel,” she said.
Ms Angwech said the school was founded by a former District Police Commander. She, however, declined to name the person.
Stranded
Ms Maureen Akec, a parent whose child attended the school, said relocating their children to new schools would be so costly.
“We had already paid all the requirements and were only expecting to pay school fees for this term. But now we have to look for another school and start from zero which is very hard,” she said.
Ms Betty Angwech, another parent, said she is worried that their children might drop out of school.
“The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic affected children’s learning due to the closure of schools but now as schools have been reopened, our police nursery and primary school has again been closed. So, we don’t know whether the school will be reopened or not,” she said.
