Authorities in Jinja City have closed two schools to give ample space for the on-going four-day Nyege Nyege Festival.
The affected schools are; Victoria Nile School and Summit Nursery and Primary School. The closure has been effected by the Jinja City Education Officer Haruna Mulopa, who said they intended to guarantee the safety of the children. According to Mulopa, the schools will reopen on Monday after the festivities.
“We don’t want the children to get exposed to immoral behaviours that may occur in that area. These schools are surrounded by Golf Club, Source of the Nile, Rugby Grounds, and National Agriculture Showground, where the Nyege Nyege festival is taking place,’’ he said on Friday.
Mulopa said they have also ordered the organisers to keep their system sounds at the acceptable minimum levels.
He noted with dismay that the festival kicked off on Thursday when Primary Seven candidates from the schools were writing their last two Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) papers.
“We had 219 pupils of Victoria Nile School sitting their final exams on Wednesday and Thursday, but on the day Nyege Nyege kicked off (Thursday), we intervened to avoid noise that would interrupt,’’ he added.
The Jinja City education officer also asserted that Victoria Nile School has a total population of 2,300 pupils.
However, Hadija Namulondo, one of the parents at the affected schools told our reporter that her daughter has been at home since Monday.
“The school was closed from November 6th to 13th to allow candidates sit for their final exams, but we were not notified why they will sit for all those days yet PLE exams were only slated for two days November 8-9,” Namulondo noted with concern.
On Friday morning, no learning activities were on-going at those schools. Instead, festivalgoers were lurking near the premises, while traders conducted business outside one of those schools gate.
However, on the flip side, the school administration has turned part of its premises into a parking area for partygoers, with each vehicle paying Shs30,000 per day.
At Summit Nursery and Primary School, the director, David Wamboko, said they decided to close because they anticipated immoral acts that are likely to affect the pupils, who are all-day scholars.
“On Thursday, learning took place but we thought it wise to close the next day (Friday) because of the heavy traffic jam, heavy security deployment, and indecent dressing by festival goers. We have never experienced this and don’t want to take anything for granted,” Wamboko explained.