Harugongo community development forum calls for support from duty bearers in Kabarole district to construct a secondary school in their sub county.

Harugongo community development forum that is coordinated by Abdul Musinguzi partners with ToroDev to do advocacy work for improved service delivery in Harugongo sub county, Kabarole district. On 23^rd July 2017 Abdul was hosted alongside Jotham Mbabazi on ToroDev’s supported radio program ‘Leaders forum‘ that is aired live every Sunday 8:00pm-10:00pm on Jubilee radio to share with the public their interventions.

Abdul said they have been supported by ToroDev to monitor service delivery especially in education and health sectors aiming at improving service delivery in communities.  He said the education sector is faced with high school drop-out rate especially in UPE schools a factor attributed to the long distances covered by learners to access education and also poor performance.

‘’Harugongo sub county has only one secondary school and is private owned which is against government policy of having a government aided secondary school in every sub county. Learners walk long distances to access a government school which is about 30 kilometers and this makes life of learners difficult hence increasing the challenges of early pregnancies, poor performance, high drop-out rate and this has put mostly girls at risk’’, said Abdul Musinguzi, the forum coordinator.

‘’The government policy of having a primary school in every parish has not been achieved in addition to the congestion in these schools. Most schools lack enough classroom blocks, enough teachers, and the capitation grant received from government is little compared to what needs to be done and it is many times not timely’’, said Jotham Mbabazi member of the forum.

‘’We request duty bearers and all other stakeholders in the district to support us as we lobby for a government aided secondary school in our sub county and also work as a team to improve girls education We request government to regularly inspect schools to check absenteeism of teachers and pupils if we are to improve education standards in our sub county and district as a whole’’, said Abdul Musinguzi forum coordinator.

During the 2 hours live radio discussion, over 45 listeners called inn and others sent SMS, ‘’Parents should always follow up their children at school and also interact with their teachers to find out the concerns of their children if we are to improve performance and general education standards’’, said Mpoza Joseph a caller from Kicwamba in Kabarole district, “The government should improve the challenges affecting education especially in UPE schools for example improving on the infrastructure, inspections, etc if we are to raise education standards in our communities’’, Said Rajab a caller from Kihura sub county in Kyenjojo district, ‘’Education sector is declining in Uganda and parents have encouraged their children to drop out of school because they have not supported them by proving scholastic materials, lunch and counseling services something that has led to child labour in many institutions like tea plantations, etc’’,  Said Dan Businge from Rwebisengo in Ntoroko district through an Sms.

 We thank SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM,CIPESA & all our partners for the support to keep these programs running.