Shock as only four out of 88 students report for studies

Geita. One week after the start of the new school calendar, only four students had reported to Izumachel Secondary School in Geita District, out of the 88 students selected to join Form One at the school this year.

All the four students who have enrolled for Form One so far are boys, out of the 35 expected to join the school. A total of 53 girls have been selected to study at the school.

In addition to the four Form One students, only 26 out of 40 Form Two students have resumed studies.

Geita has one of the highest dropout rates in the country, which is attributed to the region’s mining and fishing operations.

The school that started in 2022 is located on one of the islands in Lake Victoria. Its students come from neighbouring islands, Butwa and Lulegeya. Before the school was built, students from these islands used to travel a longer distance to the neighbouring ward of Nkome.

The school’s headmaster, Mr Edward Nkwabi, said one of the obstacles preventing students from reporting to school include matters to do with housing on the island.

“These students come from the islands of Butwa and Lulegeya, and they need a place to live. Their parents should either rent houses for them or let their children stay with relatives if any. The boat leaves the islands at 10 am and arrives here at noon. It is difficult for the students to be on time for class,” said the headmaster.

Renting a room would require a parent to pay Sh10,000 a month but the headmaster says it is not at all safe for a 12-year-old girl to live on her own. He said even boys get easily tempted to drop out of school,.

Mr Nkwabi said the school administration has already asked the government to intervene. He hopes the government will find a way to help the children living on the islands by building a hostel for them to enable those from Butwa and Lulegeya islands to stay at the school.

Another challenge, the headmaster said, is that parents are complaining that they don’t have the money to purchase school uniforms for their children, despite the school making it clear that school uniforms should not be a barrier.

The executive officer of Izumachel Ward, Mr Faustine Samike said the main reason for students’ failure to report to school is due to the fact that their parents depend on the children when it comes to economic activities, especially fishing.

“There are children who are busy fishing as we speak, and these have been sent by their parents to fish so they can earn money to support their families. We are aware of this and we have started searching the lake and the neighbourhood to ensure all those who should be in school goes to school,” Mr Samike said.

Speaking after visiting the school, the administrative secretary of Geita District, Mr Thomas Dime, urged village and ward officials to go door to door looking for absentee students so they can resume their studies.

For her part, the area’s education officer, Hossana Nshullo said the school heads will submit the list of names of students who have not reported to school to the ward leadership so that village and ward officials can monitor the parents and guardians of the students.

“This weekend, announcements are being made in villages asking parents to send students to school. From Monday, house-to-house searches will be conducted for those who have not reported,” she said.