Teachers and pupils at Kamuwunga Primary School in Kalungu District have returned to their classrooms after being displaced by severe floods earlier this year.
The floods, which started in November last year, submerged the school and forced students to relocate classes to a nearby lakeshore (Kamuwunga landing site).
While the waters have receded, fears linger that the school could be flooded again due to a lack of preventive measures.
Headteacher Scholastica Apiding expressed relief that they are back at the school, but she voiced concerns about the future.
"The current situation at school is not the best but is fair because we do not have floods at the moment. However, we expect heavy rains soon, and if the water returns, we will have to go back to the landing site where we have set up temporally tents," she said.
Classes at the school were disrupted throughout the first and second terms due to the flooding.
Although Kamuwunga Primary School had 400 pupils before the floods, only 350 returned after the disaster, and just 15 pupils showed up on their first day of the new term (third term).
"We are just waiting for the rest of the students to come back so that we can resume lessons," Apiding said.
Despite the school reopening, learning has been severely impacted.
Apiding noted that Primary Seven candidates have not yet completed their syllabus.
"We struggled to cover what was supposed to be done in the first term during the second term. We now need to catch up quickly to prepare our 39 registered Primary Seven candidates for the upcoming PLE [Primary Leaving Examinations]," she added.
The floodwaters have also caused significant damage to the school's infrastructure.
The flooding has also damaged the school's infrastructure, collapsing latrines and leaving the school with only one functional toilet.
The head teacher is now calling on the government for help.
"The floods left our classrooms in a dangerous condition, and we only have one toilet. The boys and teachers' toilets have collapsed. We need the government to dig a drainage trench around the school and help raise the ground level to prevent further flooding," she urged.
Local leaders initially set up tents at Kamuwunga's landing site for temporary classes.
However, the learning environment there was far from ideal.
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Apiding explained, "We had limited space at the landing site. Only four tents could be set up, forcing us to combine different classes. For example, Primary 1 and Primary 2 shared one tent, as did Primary 4 and Primary 5, despite having different syllabuses. This disrupted the concentration of both learners and teachers."
Additionally, the noise from nearby trucks and water cultivators operating at the landing site further interfered with the learning process.
"It felt like an industrial centre, and the noise made it difficult for our students to concentrate," she said.
The flooding of Kamuwunga Primary School is widely believed to have been caused by rice farmers and sand miners in Lwera, who blocked drainage channels that once carried excess water into Lake Victoria. Residents of the area are calling on the government to address this issue and prevent future flooding.
Kamuwunga Primary School is the only school in the area with a designated centre number, serving students up to Primary Seven.
However, the ongoing risks have raised concerns about whether pupils will be able to complete the academic year.
Kalungu district deputy chairperson Irene Mwebe Nanyanzi acknowledged the challenges faced by the school.
"We have made efforts to stop the blockage of drainage channels, but those responsible have resisted," she said. The district is now working on cleaning the drainage channels in hopes of preventing further flooding at Kamuwunga.
