The go back to school campaign in Kyenjojo district has hit a snag.Funds meant for the campaign have allegedly been misused.
In October 2010, Kyenjojo district council initiated the Go Back to school campaign, in response to the high rates of absenteeism and school drop outs.
The district allocated he 250 million shillings part of the 1.5 billion shillings budget allocated to the education department for the 2010/2011 financial year.
Under the campaign, the money would be used to promote the campaign through radio programmes, meetings with teachers and parents, printing of posters and flyers with an aim of persuading school drops-outs to return to school.
The campaign was supposed to be carried out by the education department, however the circumstances under which the money was misused, remains a mystery.
Investigations by Uganda Radio Network, shows that no posters were printed, no radio programmes were aired and no meetings were held.
This has angered head teachers who are concerned by the continued absenteeism of pupils in schools.
At NyakisiPrimary School in RwebikoraSubCounty, Sabiti Rusongoza, the head teacher says that the education department promised to organize a seminar to educate parents and teachers about the campaign, but it has never taken place.
Rusongoza says that he was excited about the campaign because it was going to encourage parents to send their children to school.He says that some parents are reluctant to send their children to school. He also says that during school days some children spend most of the time in markets selling food products.
When Uganda Radio Network visited Kyenjojo main market, there were children aged 9-14 years selling food in stalls while other were vending fruits, polythene bags, shoes.
Steven Atugonza, the head teacher Kidubuli Primary School says that some teachers with the help of local leaders Voluntarily move to villages to promote the campaign without officials from the education department.
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But George Begumisa, the district education officer, claims that the campaign has been going till February when the funds ran out.
He says that the department carried out activities like radio talk shows and printed posters in some schools. Begumisa also blamed some parents for not responding to the campaign.
However when he was asked when the talk shows were held and at which radio station, he switched off his mobile phone.
Last year, in a survey carried out by Save the Children, an international NGO, Kyenjojo district was listed as the district with high rates of absenteeism and school drop-outs in the Rwenzori region.
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