The officials said parents are reluctant to send their children to these schools due to the necessity for daily water transport
Chief Administrative Officers from Uganda's island districts, led by Isa Mbooge of Buvuma and Fredrick Ssemwogerere of Kalangala, are urging the government to revise policies governing seed schools.
They argue that the current requirement for schools to operate solely as day schools has significantly hindered the effective functioning of these schools in island regions.
The officials said parents are reluctant to send their children to these schools due to the necessity for daily water transport, which has resulted in declining school attendance and limited access to education in areas reliant on boat travel.
Ssemwogerere pointed to Nakemeriya Seed School in Kakyanga, Kalangala District, which serves a region with nine landing sites.
Despite its wide catchment area, the school struggles to attract students due to the challenges associated with water transport.
"The government's policy mandates that all students attend as day scholars, but in areas like Kalangala, this simply doesn't work.
Nakemeriya Seed School, located in Kakyanga, has very few students because parents are unwilling to send their children across the water every day," Ssemwogerere explained.
The district officials are calling for a policy shift that would allow seed schools to offer both day and boarding sections.
They argue that this would alleviate the logistical challenges parents face and encourage more children to attend school, particularly in remote, water-locked communities.
They believe the change should apply not only to secondary schools but also to primary schools, which face similar restrictions.
"Allowing these schools to operate boarding sections would provide a much-needed solution for island communities. Parents would no longer have to worry about the daily risks of transporting their children across the water," added Isa Mbooge of Buvuma.
This request comes amid growing concerns that the current policies are contributing to the stagnation of educational development in island districts, where schools are geographically isolated, and transportation is a significant obstacle.
Seed schools were introduced in Uganda as part of a government initiative to expand access to secondary education in underserved and rural areas.
The programme, which began in 2007 under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) policy, aimed to bridge the education gap between urban and rural communities by constructing at least one government-aided secondary school in every sub-county without an existing school.
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The initiative has provided affordable, quality education in areas that previously lacked secondary institutions.
However, certain challenges have emerged, particularly in remote regions like Uganda's islands.
The policy requiring all seed schools to operate as day schools has proven problematic in areas where children live far from the school and must rely on risky and time-consuming water transport.
In light of these challenges, the island district officials are advocating for a review of the policies governing seed schools to better accommodate the unique geographical and logistical realities of these regions.
The leaders argue that allowing boarding sections would not only improve school attendance but also enhance the quality of education by enabling students to focus on their studies without the added strain of long, dangerous commutes.
"The current situation is a barrier to education. If we want these seed schools to fulfil their intended purpose, we must make them accessible to all students, regardless of where they live," Mbooge said.
While the government's seed school policy has positively impacted many parts of Uganda by increasing access to secondary education, local leaders fear that without adjustments for island communities, these schools will continue to underperform and fail to serve the students they were intended to benefit.
