KABAROLE district education officer Victoria Rusoke has warned parents against undermining the Universal Secondary Education (USE) double-shift policy.
The policy was introduced by the education ministry in 2008 to cater for the high enrolment in government-aided secondary schools.
Rusoke was reacting to reports that Senior Three and Four students of Mpanga Secondary School in Kabarole were opposing the policy, saying the shifts affect their concentration and performance.
Rusoke said the policy was a government initiative and school administrators should not be blamed.
She said Mpanga Secondary School is one of the highest populated government-aided secondary schools in the country, with over 1,900 students, which makes it impossible to accommodate all students at once.
“After the introduction of USE, enrolment increased,” Rusoke told The New Vision last Wednesday.
She disclosed that the education ministry and the African Development Bank had released sh1.2b for the construction of classrooms, a multipurpose hall, library and two science laboratories, which she said would ease the congestion at the school.
Richard Alituha, the municipal education officer, promised to have the policy reviewed in the school but urged the parents and students to be patient as a solution is worked out.
