A meeting between the Buddo Junior School administrators and parents of the school that was planned for this Saturday was called off due to security fears. The meeting at the school, at which 20 girls were burned to death in a still unexplained fire three weeks ago, was intended to discuss safety issues, to reassure the parents and to discuss opening dates for the second term.
Moses Serwaru, Deputy Headmaster of Buddo Junior, says the meeting cannot proceed because it lacks clearance from the ministry of education. He explains that the Ministry cannot guarantee the security of a large number of people gathered in one place given the sensitivity of the issue.
Tensions are still running high as the Buddo Junior School community comes to terms with the tragedy at the school. Due to the unexplained source of the fire, accusations and counter accusations of liability are tearing the community apart.
Serwaru says the Ministry of Education is supposed to consult with the necessary security organs about the meeting in order to avoid a recurrence of another tragedy.
//Cue in: iFor us we are #i
Cue out: i# accident occurs again.i//
Today Livingstone Ddungu, the Headmaster of Buddo Junior School, held a meeting with the Minister of Education to map out a way forward for the school. Moses Serwaru says the meeting was intended to persuade the Ministry to allow the administration to meet the parents and plan for the future.
Today's meeting comes two days after a stormy meeting organized by oOld students of Buddo Junior School. Some of the alumni proposed that the school should be closed for one year to give way for re-organization, but others advocated for its opening in four weeks for the second term.
As a show of solidarity with Buddo Junior School a group of more than 80 head teachers from schools under Namirembe Diocese today visited the school and made a pledge of 5 million shillings towards its re-construction.
