Monze pupils learning under trees

Some pupils at Hatontola Basic School in Monze District are learning under a tree due to inadequate classrooms .

And 1,200 farmers from 37 agriculture cooperatives in Monze District have been trained in bee-keeping aimed at uplifting their livelihoods through the sale of honey.

Monze District Commissioner Biggie Mwiinde who visited the school today during his tour of developmental projects found some pupils learning under a tree because of a shortage of classrooms.

Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Chairman Emerson Mweemba told the District Commissioner that the increase in the number of school pupils has put pressure on the existing four classroom blocks.

Mr. Mweemba said the school needs more classroom blocks to contend with the increase in the number of pupil enrolments.

“As you can see Sir, we are forced to teach some pupils outside under a tree due to inadequate classrooms as the number of pupils being enrolled is on the upswing,” said Mr. Mweemba.

Senior School teacher Gracious Miyoba said the school which enrols pupils from grade one to grade nine has a total of 498 pupils  and 7 teachers out of an establishment of 12 two of whom are volunteers.

Ms Miyoba also said lack of new teaching materials in Tonga language has affected pupil’s performance.

“ We do not have the new syllabus in Tonga and you will find that  for instance pupils in grade  two  are still doing syllabus for grade one because we have not yet received the new teaching materials in Tonga for grade two,” said Ms Miyoba.

According to school records pass rate for all pupils at the school was at 9.6 per cent in 2015 examination results.

But Mr. Mwiinde praised the teachers for accepting to work in the rural areas and urged them to continue working hard as government was committed to addressing a myriad of challenges facing the education sector.

Meanwhile, nursing staff at Siatontola Rural Health Centre (RHC) complained that the health facility was infested with bats which are posing a health hazards to both patients and health workers.

And Monze District Forest Officer  Andrew Kamwi said the bee-keeping projects  which ends in December this year was  funded by the Netherlands Development Organisation adding that 200 bee hives  have been set up in various part so the District to enable farmers harvest honey and sale to make a living.

He however pointed out that lack of a proper market for honey was one of the challenges faced by farmers in the District.

“This project has been funded by the Netherland Development Organisation and is aimed at helping farmers to generate an income through bee keeping but I must hasten to say that lack of a proper market for honey is one of the challenges farmers are facing,” said Mr. Kamwi.

“ For instance , this year we expect to harvest about 4 tonnes of honey from this project  but what is worrying is that there is no stable market  for honey for farmers to make a profit,” he added.