Authorities at Soroti Secondary School in eastern Uganda are thinking about using tents as classrooms because of the increasing number of students.
The head teacher, Mr. Alfred Oluka Okeriau, says they are struggling with too many students at the school. He says they need more classrooms urgently.
“Because our students did well in their exams, many new students want to join us. We can’t turn them away because our school is affordable for everyone,” he said in an interview with the Monitor.
Mr. Okeriau mentioned that they have asked the Ministry of Education for more classrooms but haven’t heard back yet.
“We need eight more classrooms now. If we don’t get them, we might have to use tents until the government helps us,” he added.
This year, the total number of students has grown to 4,593 from 3,000 last year.
Mr. Vincent Enumu, the chairperson of the Parents Teachers Association, said they plan to have a meeting to discuss how to help the head teacher deal with the increasing number of students.
“We told the head teacher to keep admitting students because our school is affordable for all parents,” he said.
However, Mr. Patrick Emokor, the Soroti District Principal Education Officer, advised the school to stop admitting more students.
“Once you’re full, you shouldn’t take more. Soroti SS needs to know its limit,” he said.
