MUKONO – The Bishop of Mukono Diocese Rt. Rev James William Ssebaggala has expressed concerns over the poor performance in the Church of Uganda (COU) Schools.
Rev. Ssebaggala noted that students are not performing well in schools saying it’s so unfortunate that most of the students are studying on empty stomachs yet some of them don’t even have breakfast at home before coming to school.”
“This has led to increased dropout rates of students and pupils out of school and poor performances,” he added.
Despite the fact that there is a human recourse solution, it’s still on paper instead of being implemented.
He made the remarks during a conference where he spoke to various headteachers of COU schools at Uganda Christian University (UCU).
The conference brings together headteachers of Church Of Uganda schools under the umbrella of the Church of Uganda Heads of Institutions Association (COUHIA) annually at UCU where they discuss issues affecting them and finding a way forward.
Dr. Charles Kahigiru, the Chairperson COUHIA said that the main aim of starting the association is to bring together headteachers of COU founded schools.
He says: “COUHIA is meant to bring headteachers of COU founded schools together where we discuss issues we are facing in school and find ways of solving them.”
Rev Paul Kakooza the Secretary of Education Church of Uganda also noted that the purpose of the conference is to address issues in the Anglican schools.
Rev Kakooza said: “This purpose of this conference is to help us identify issues affecting us and coming up with solutions to them.”
Bishop Ssebaggala also said that the COU schools happen to be the majority in the country, however; he was disappointed by the government that it doesn’t listen to them whenever it comes to proper management school decisions concerning COU schools.
“The COU has many schools but we are never consulted by the government when it comes to decision making,” he said
He then urges that the government should be able to listen to them when the church speaks out on an issue concerning schools since the church is not a business.
Dr. Kahigiru also said that understaffing by the government in the schools is another factor affecting students’ performances.
He said: “Government doesn’t deploy teachers in government COU schools which affects most students’ performance.”
