Assistant RDC Bans Cash Collection for School Meals in Butaleja.

By Ambrose Wanagoli

Erisama Kasibini, one of the Assistant Resident District Commissioners of Butaleja District, has directed teachers across the district to stop charging parents cash for school meals and instead encourage the collection of food items in kind.

Mr. Kasibini said it was wrong for teachers, allegedly in connivance with school managers and Parents and Teachers’ Associations (PTAs), to squeeze money from poor parents under the pretext of providing midday meals.

“I warn teachers who connive with school managers to cheat parents under the guise of buying food for learners. They usually collect such money for selfish interests,” Kasibini stated.

He urged schools to adopt a more transparent and community-based approach by asking parents to contribute solid foodstuffs rather than money, in order to curb mismanagement and ensure learners benefit directly from the feeding programme.

The Assistant RDC also appealed to directors of private schools to ease strict demands for fees, especially from vulnerable families struggling to meet school requirements.

However, he expressed concern over the low turnout of learners in the first term, noting that some children remain at home to engage in garden work, babysitting, or due to lack of scholastic materials.

Journalists spoke to several headteachers, including Mr. Eric Haumba of Mugulu High School, Timothy Bidome, deputy headteacher of Busolwe Secondary School, Micah Muhwana of Mugulu Integrated Primary School, and Yazidi Kaduke of Mugulu Primary School.

They unanimously welcomed the school feeding programme, emphasizing its importance in improving concentration and academic performance.

The headteachers noted that hungry learners struggle to grasp lessons effectively, adding that some girls are often lured away from school by the promise of chapati and other snacks.

While most schools reported satisfactory enrolment figures, Mugulu Primary School registered a decline from 700 pupils last year to 497 this year.

Meanwhile, Senior One students officially reported for the new academic year on Monday. Busolwe Secondary School, which reportedly leads in district enrolment, registered 338 students on the first day.

In some schools, learners were seen studying under trees and near streams amid looming threats of rain, highlighting ongoing infrastructure challenges in the district.