The opening of Term Three has been marked by a low learner turnout in government schools across Ntungamo District, with some classrooms recording only a handful of learners while others remained completely empty.
A spot check conducted by district authorities on the first day of the term found several schools with less than a quarter of their expected enrolment, raising concern over the preparedness of Primary Seven candidates ahead of their final examinations.
The monitoring exercise was led by Ntungamo District Chairman Samuel Muchunguzi Rwakigoba, who visited several schools expecting to find them fully operational following the school holiday.
Instead, officials encountered sparsely occupied classrooms, empty desks and, in some cases, classrooms that had not been cleaned, with goat droppings found inside.
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"The turnout is very poor. I blame the parents. Parents, stop the habit of not taking your children to school. Teachers, you are also not serious because wherever I went, I found four teachers, seven, three, while others had not reported," Muchunguzi said.
He urged parents to ensure their children return to school and called on teachers to report for duty.
"We are appealing to parents. The holiday has ended. Take back your children to school. I am also calling upon the teachers to report back to school and teach," said Daniel Twakira, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Ntungamo.
At Mutanoga Primary School, only 116 of the expected 536 learners had reported by the time of the inspection. Among the Primary Seven candidates, 33 were still absent, raising concern as the learners prepare for their national examinations.
The situation was more pronounced at Kamunyiga Primary School, where only 27 of the 215 expected learners had reported. The school had only one Primary Seven learner and two Primary Six learners in attendance.
Teachers at the school were left waiting for learners as the institution continued to grapple with infrastructure challenges.
At Kitembe I Primary School, only 47 of the 380 expected learners had reported.
Teachers attributed the low turnout partly to misinformation among parents and learners that the reporting date had been postponed.
Some classrooms at the school were empty, while goat droppings were found inside some of the rooms. Other school structures were also found in a dilapidated state.
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At Rwengoma Primary School, only seven of the 30 Primary Seven learners had reported.
At Kagamba Secondary School, about 400 learners had reported out of an enrolment of more than 1,000.
The low turnout has raised particular concern among teachers and district officials because Term Three is the final academic term of 2026, with Primary Seven candidates facing their national examinations at the end of the school year.
District authorities have urged parents to immediately return their children to school and called on teachers to report for duty to ensure learning gets underway.
Ntungamo District has 342 government primary schools and 23 government secondary schools, making the scale of the attendance-monitoring exercise significant.
Officials say continued absenteeism could affect learners' academic progress, particularly those preparing for national examinations.
