When Bunyama Primary School opened its gates in 2022, residents of Bunyama Island in Kalangala District celebrated what they thought was the dawn of better education.
Built to accommodate more than 200 children in Bunyama Parish, Bujumba Sub-county, the school was meant to save parents from ferrying their children to Bugala Island, five miles away, in search of learning facilities. Three years later, that promise feels broken. Enrolment has never exceeded 95 pupils. A visit to the school last week revealed only three teachers on duty, handling all classes. Both Baby Class and Primary One learners share a single room, while Primary Two and Three occupy another.
Primary Four and Five are separated by a wooden partition, with only Primary Six enjoying its own space. The entire school has just four classrooms. Primary Five and Six were only introduced this year after a parents-teachers meeting aimed at boosting enrolment. But the effort has not stopped families from putting their children in boats every day to cross to Bugala Island for schooling. ‘More than 30 children cross daily from Kagoonya Landing Site to Bugala. Others are even taken to schools outside Kalangala,’ said Ms Judith Naziwa, the LC3 councillor for women.
The hurdles
According to Bujumba Sub-county records, Bunyama Parish has more than 2,000 residents, including more than 400 children. Yet Bunyama Primary struggles to keep even a quarter of them in class. The only other learning centre on the island is a small private nursery near Kagoonya fishing village, which teachers say also affects enrolment. ‘We receive pupils at the start of term, but after six weeks they disappear when parents migrate to other islands in search of better fish catches,’ complained Mr Joseph Nsubuga, one of the teachers.
‘The long distances children walk also discourage attendance. From landing sites like Kisujju or Kagoonya, pupils trek four to seven kilometres daily through thick forests. Parents fear for their safety,’ he added. Mr Nsubuga believes a boarding section would be a game-changer. ‘If we had a boarding section, children would stay here and wouldn’t miss school even when their parents move away for fishing on distant islands,’ he said. Local leaders argue the school was neglected soon after construction.
‘It has no fence, no security. Even the solar panels were stolen and the water system destroyed by locals, which has worsened the school environment,’ said Mr John Lutalo, the speaker for Bujumba Sub-county. Kalangala District chairperson Rajab Semakula said all government-built schools in the district are designed as day schools, even though they are expected to serve multiple islands. ‘How can children from another island access a school daily? We have repeatedly asked the government to bend the rules and allow Kalangala to have boarding sections in all our schools,’ he said.
Parents’ struggles
For many parents, poverty is the bigger hurdle. ‘I cannot afford the requirements at Bunyama Primary School,’ said Ms Brenda Nakajubi, a mother from Kagoonya fishing village. ‘It’s cheaper for me to send my children to another school, even if it means crossing by boat every day,’ she added. Others fear the journey itself. ‘Some of us cannot risk letting young children walk long distances,’ said Mr Farouk Mulijo.
‘And the standards at Bunyama Primary School are not convincing. That’s why I don’t take my children there,’ he added. Even children question the school’s standards. Cain Ssentumbwe, who once studied at Bunyama Primary School but later transferred to Kibanga Primary on Bugala Island, said poor teaching drove him away. ‘Sometimes teachers would ask the best pupils to teach others. There were not enough textbooks. I lost interest,’ he claimed.
Pupils’ concerns
Maria Naziwa, a Primary Four pupil, recalled dangers on the way to class. ‘We sometimes meet snakes on the paths or even in classrooms. After that, we fear to return. I had to leave the school for another, for safety,’ she said. District Education Officer Emmanuel Nseko said the funding model makes survival harder for island schools. ‘The government allocates capitation grants depending on pupil numbers. A school like Bunyama, with fewer than 100 children, gets about Shs1 million a term, yet operational costs are the same as schools with hundreds of pupils,’ he explained. He urged the government to give special consideration.
‘One sub-county can have seven islands and only one day school. Without tailored funding for island schools, Universal Primary Education will remain a dream here,’ he added.