After waiting in vain for support from the government in procuring school desks, Apworocero Primary School in Minakulu Town Council, Oyam District, has resolved to buy and repair their own school desks using Parents Teachers Association (PTA) funds.
At Apworocero Primary School, each pupil contributes 3000/= to the PTA fund every term for running school affairs.
Tonny Mambo Omara, the headteacher of Apworocero Primary School, says that with the increasing number of learners at the school, desk shortages are affecting school operations, especially in lower classes like P1 to P5. However, from last term to this term, they managed to repair 40 desks in P3 to P5 using PTA funds, which is not yet enough for learners; others are still sitting on logs and bricks during class lessons.
According to Tonny Mambo, P1 and P2 have many students that need over 200 desks to achieve a good ratio of one desk for every four pupils, but there are only 120 desks in their classes at the moment.
Apworocero Primary School is a UPE school with a total enrollment of 1432 pupils, consisting of 720 boys and 712 girls, with only 13 teachers.
