At least 400 primary school pupils share a classroom in Ngara District

What you need to know:
- Stakeholders in Ngara District have called on the Education ministry and the district council to act on the shortage of classrooms in Ruhuba Primary School that has forced 400 Standard Five and Standard Seven pupils to share a classroom that is separated by a mat.
Ngara. Standard Five and Seven pupils at Ruhuba Primary School in Ngara District, Kagera Region, are sharing a classroom that has been separated by a mat.
Standard Seven pupils Anitha Wilson and Shedrack Marton separately told The Citizen on Friday, February 1, 2019, that congestion in the classrooms had subjected them to serious learning difficulties.
“In spite of concentrating on what is being taught our understanding is greatly impacted by overcrowding by pupils. Most of the time we are distracted by noises made by our colleagues in the other classroom,” said Ms Wilson.
Teachers in the school, including Mr Innocent Sospeter and Mr Baraka Sabuka, separately told this reporter that under the current environment, it was difficult to achieve quality education in the school.
The school head teacher, Mr Yustas Benedicto, said the decision to separate the classroom using a mat was reached to enable the pupils get an opportunity to learn instead of completely missing out on education.
Hesitating to provide a detailed report on the school, Mr Benedicto said each room was occupied by 200 pupils. He noted, however, that the district executive director (DED) or the district education officers (DEO) were the right authorities to provide detailed reports.
Mbuba District Councillor David Buzutu blamed residents in the area for suspending contributions for academic development because of the government’s free education.
He called on residents in the village to volunteer in building classrooms in order to reduce the problem facing the two primary schools in the village.
The situation was recently condemned by education stakeholders in the district who urged the education department and the district council to take immediate action.