Oldest primary school in Ntungamo destroyed by heavy rains

By Arinda Nsheeka Wilfred

Butare Primary School, one of the oldest primary schools in Ntungamo district has been destroyed by a wind storm.

The roof of a three classroom block at the school located in Ntungamo Sub-county, Ruhaama County was blown off during the Monday mid afternoon storm.The affected block housed Primary One and Two classes. Another block that acted as a library and store may not be used next term following the destruction.

The roof flew for a distance of about 100 meters before falling at a nearby church compound and then getting smashed due to the strong force of winds.

Evangelist Kyorayende, the headmistress of the school told Watchdog Uganda that the storm started at around 1:30pm while pupils were having lunch. She said some teachers who were in class sustained minor injuries while pupils’ end of term reports were destroyed.

“We request for assistance from government and local leaders because the disaster will affect the pupils and syllabus coverage as over 200 pupils have no shelter to study from,” Kyorayende said.

The chairman school management committee, Peter Ayebaze said that the pupils might delay starting school next year since they have no classroom left.

“We thank God that the roof didn’t collapse on pupils. These buildings were built in 1976 and 1982,” Ayebaze said.

Butare Primary School, which is about 5km from Ntungamo town has an enrollment of 400 pupils and it is one of the few government aided schools founded in 1957.

“Some of these buildings are older than people in the area,” Ayebaze added.