The much-awaited construction of Nyamwamba Seed Secondary School, in Kasese Municipality, has been flagged off. The construction is being undertaken under the Ministry of Education under the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Program.
The school will be one of 116 seed schools planned to be constructed under this program, starting with this financial year. According to the plan, the school will be a lower secondary day school replacing Nyamwamba Community Secondary School.
Aggrey Atukwasa, the project engineer from the ministry, said the project is funded by the World Bank to the tune of 3.7 billion shillings. He explained that the scope of work will include: the construction of eight classrooms, a science laboratory, a library, a multipurpose hall, an administration block, staff quarters, latrines, and a playground.
Atukwasa added that the contractor, Roda Engineering Limited, is expected to complete the work within a 10-month timeframe. Local stakeholders say they hope the completion of the seed school will expand access to secondary education in Nyamwamba division while providing employment opportunities for the many teachers who have sustained learning in the area as volunteers.
Ferigo Kamable, Member of Parliament for Kasese Municipality, reassured the volunteer staff at Nyamwamba Community Secondary School that they will be prioritised for government employment once the school begins operations. He pledged his support to see that local teaching needs are addressed through the process.
Geoffrey Bamanyisa, town clerk of Kasese Municipality, appealed to the contractor to do a good job while calling on stakeholders to be interested in supervising the project.
Amon Rukundo Amon, headteacher of Nyamwamba Community Secondary School, said the volunteers have served the community faithfully and deserve priority for recruitment when the seed school opens.
Caroline Masika, a mother of a P.7 candidate, says the absence of enough government-aided secondary schools accounts for the rising number of children who have been unable to join secondary level. She urged that many parents cannot afford the school fees being charged by private institutions, while calling the development a relief to the local community in the division-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
