High school in Northern rotting away

Letters, Normal

I recently took a trip to one of the four high schools in Northern province and was stunned by the neglected state. 
The classrooms and the teachers’ houses are deteriorating without any hint of maintenance at all and the dormitories are in a mess. 
Standing from one side of the boys’ dorm, I could see the opposite side, thanks to the broken walls filled with graffiti. 
The outer walls have decayed, exposing the inner walls and leaving the boys exposed to the weather.
Further investigation revealed this school has gone on without power for the last three years since the generator broke down.
Power lines are lying on the ground instead of hanging from the poles, wires have been cut, switches destroyed and nearly all the light tubes are missing.
Water supply is another problem.
The school has not had water supply for almost a decade.
The water pump has also broken down and left idle for years.
A student tells me that the water situation is dire during the dry season.
Students and teachers will have to walk for 1km to collect water.
It is clear that valuable lesson times are put aside in search of water.
As such, I would like to commend Ijivitari MP David Arore for launching Northern’s five-year education plan (2010-15) recently. 
Mr Arore, as a person with education administration as background, you know that education excellence cannot be achieved by sponsoring or subsiding school fees alone but depends on many other factors such as improved facilities in our schools. 
We hope your plan covers maintenance of schools which the authorities have turned a blind eye on for so many years. 

 

Pro-education
Popondetta