Bigodi Secondary School and Rwengobe Primary School in Kamwenge District have officially been handed a newly constructed classroom block and staff quarters respectively, courtesy of MTN Foundation.
MTN Foundation, the charity arm of MTN Uganda fully funded and implemented the project through Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS), a non-government organization dedicated to improving access to quality education in Uganda.
In this project that cost nearly Ugx 350 million, the foundation oversaw the construction and furnishing of a 3-classroom block at Bigodi Secondary School to create adequate learning space for the students.
The project also saw Rwengobe Primary School receive newly constructed staff quarters with the capacity to accommodate 6 teaching staff and the Head Master of the institution.
Wim Vanhelleputte, the MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer noted that by undertaking this initiative, MTN is fulfilling its commitment to the people of Uganda to continually support and contribute towards the socio-economic development of the country.
“We believe that this classroom block will alleviate challenges of congestion and limited learning space for the students while also creating an enabling environment for learning. Through this project, MTN also hopes to create positive impact with ripple effects culminating into the social and economic development of the country,” he said as he spoke at the official handover of the schools in Kamwenge today.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2021 abstract, Kamwenge district has the third highest student to classroom ratio in the Western and South-Western region of Uganda. This implies that the district has the third highest number of students per classroom in the entire region after Sheema and Bundibugyo.
The abstract also indicates that secondary school enrolment has seen a 6% decline from 1.4m in 2016 to 1.3m in 2017.
According to the research, there’s a need for increased efforts towards creating an enabling environment in secondary schools to encourage student enrolment.
MTN Foundation has recently embarked on improving infrastructure across schools in Uganda such as constructing classroom blocks and sanitary facilities at Kichwamba PEAS School in Kabarole, Noble PEAS High School and Aspire PEAS School in Ibanda district which has positively impacted a numerous number of students in the Western region.
While delivering his remarks, the Guest of Honour, the Outgoing Resident District Commissioner, Kamwenge district, Martin Mugabe lauded MTN Uganda for its support to the education sector in the Western region of Uganda noting it will play a critical role in alleviating some of the challenges faced by schools in the country.
He also highlighted that he believed the MTN initiative would be the long term solution to teacher absenteeism for which Uganda reported third, standing at 27%, yet the global ceiling is 30%, according to the Global corruption report in 2013.