Kyambogo varsity donates life jackets to Lake Bunyonyi Island School
By Moses Agaba
Kabale
Students and Pupils of Lake Bunyonyi Secondary school and Bwama Primary School on Bwama Island Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District are feeling a little safer after receiving a generous donation of 100 life jackets from Kyambogo University towards enhancing the safety of learners accessing education from the two island schools.
The University also extended its support by contributing 1000 Picfare exercise books, 1000 mathematical sets, 700 pens, and 300 pencils to benefit the students.
The donation comes at the time as the school community around Lake Bunyonyi Secondary school are still yet to come to terms as following the tragic incident that occurred on Friday where a Senior Two student Martin Izabayo, lost his life when the canoe he was moving in on the lake capsized leading to the unfortunate demise . The body is still missing.
Kyambogo University leadership led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Eli Katunguka Rwakishaya handed over the donation at the function held at Lake Bunyonyi Secondary school.
Isaac Kamukama, the acting Deputy Head teacher of Lake Bunyonyi Secondary School, says that they lack adequate transportation means, which has been contributing to increased absenteeism and school dropouts among the learners.
He says that the problem of the students coming late at school is increasing due to the lack of proper transport.
Patience Tweheyo, Bwama Primary School Head teacher says that the pupils rarely solely use canoe boats to reach their places of learning .
Tweheyo says that despite receiving a motor boat donation from Uganda Revenue Authority –URA, the school has been struggling to procure fuel for transporting the learners.
She says that the school has been grappling with an ongoing issue of dropout cases, which has inevitably impacted overall academic performance as now the school population is now at 405 pupils.
Moses Bwengye Tumwijukye, the Kabale District Education Officer, acknowledged the gravity of the situation saying that this transportation challenge has resulted in five learners missing school on a daily basis.
He says that due to resource constraints, the district is unable to provide fuel to individual schools, as all educational institutions within the district are treated equitably.
Prof Katunguka says they thought about donating the life jackets following a spate of boat accidents on Ugandan lakes recently.
He says that Kyambogo University Library is diligently curetting a collection of textbooks to further enrich the educational resources available to the schools.
This benevolent initiative, he hoped, would play a pivotal role in facilitating better access to education and uplifting the overall quality of learning experiences at these institutions.
He says that the government of Uganda recognizes education as basic human rights and continues to strive to provide free primary education to all children in the country but it’s facing issues like funding , teacher training , rural population and inadequate facilities continue to hinder the progress of educational development despite government efforts to close the gap.
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