The Hoima City Principal Education Officer, Mr Johnson Kusiima Baingana, challenges parents not to keep their children at home now that the third academic term opened today Monday, September 18, 2023 across the country.
His remarks follow a low pupil turn up on the first day of the opening of the third academic term with some schools in the city recording as low as 30 per cent turn up.
The educationist says pupils had enough time for holiday, thus, there is no need for parents to keep them at home.
He reminds parents of how the third term is short, occupied with many activities as well as being a promotional one that requires learners to concentrate on their studies to march with that short period.
Mr Baingana suspects that some parents could be retaining their children at home having not got the many scholastic requirements especially demanded by private schools.
As such, he urges such schools to allow parents to pay at least half of the school dues and other requirements to enable them take their children back to school earlier for better academic service.
Private schools always charge such items as bars of soap, brooms, toilet papers, sugar and others which sometimes overwhelm parents and delay sending their children back to school in time.
The situation is exacerbated by the current low income earning among the majority of people as Uganda’s economy currently bites hard.
At Hoima Mixed Primary School in Hoima city, the head teacher, Mr Patrick Isoke, notes with dismay that only 47 pupils out of the total enrolment of 260 pupils attended on the first day of the opening of this term.
He attributes this to parents’ bad mentality that schools do not conduct lessons in the first week of the opening term.
The head teacher also says given that this is a rainy season, parents are keeping their children at home to assist them in planting yet compromising their academic performance. He also reminded them that this third term is short and therefore needs much more concentration as promotional exams are sat in this period.
At Hoima Public primary school, less than a half of the total pupil enrolment reported to school today.
The school head teacher, Ms Harriet Karungi, reveals that only 500 pupils out of 1,573 pupils attended; challenging parents to send their children to school since delaying them at home affects pupil learning.
A total of 100 students out of 500 students turned up in the morning at Central Secondary School – a private owned educational establishment in Hoima city.
However, the head teacher, Mr Isaiah Atugonza, expected the number to increase in the afternoon on grounds that the school is never hard on parents since it allows them to pay half of the school fees as the term opens and pay fully later.
