Excitement as MoWE, EU Officials commission 3-classroom block and VIP latrines at Yumbe SS
The new 3-classroom block which was commissioned at Yumbe SS on Tuesday
YUMBE – Sharon Desire, a Senior Six student at Yumbe Secondary School in Yumbe District, could not hide her excitement on Tuesday when officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE), KfW, the Ministry of Education and Sports together with a delegation from the European Union, commissioned a three-classroom block and two VIP latrines at the school.
The new classroom block has a component of water tanks, a solar-powered lighting system, 54 three-seater desks, three tables and six classroom chairs meanwhile the sanitation facilities comprise of a four-stance VIP latrine for boys and a two-stance VIP toilet for girls with a changing room and an incinerator.
Yumbe Secondary School project was commissioned under Lot A of the Yumbe Cluster, one of the four schools benefiting from the European Union-funded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (EU-WASH) Project in Yumbe District.
Yumbe Secondary School is the first to be completed and commissioned while works in the other three schools; Kuru PS, Kuru SS and Aringa SS are still undergoing final works and will be commissioned upon completion.
The project funded by the European Union is being implemented by the Water and Sanitation Development Facility-North (WSDF-North) on behalf of KfW.
“I’m so excited today that the classrooms and toilet facilities constructed for us have been commissioned for use. These facilities will help us so much because our classrooms are old—built 48 years ago, and are now leaking.
We are privileged to receive the new classrooms, which will improve our learning. As a girl child, the washrooms and incinerator will make us more comfortable during our monthly periods. They will help us clean ourselves properly and maintain our dignity,” Desire said.
She expressed hope that the new facilities would improve academic performance and help retain students, especially girls, in school.
Abdul Akim Musa, another student at Yumbe SS, recalled the challenges of inadequate sanitary facilities and classrooms.
With an enrolment of 1,001 students, the school previously had only one toilet facility for boys and one for girls, forcing students to spend long periods queuing.
“We used to waste a lot of time queuing to use the toilet. If someone was inside, you had to wait until they came out because the boys’ toilet had only three stances. With the new sanitary facilities, I am hopeful that our academic performance will improve because we will no longer waste time as we used to,” Akim said.
Eng. Catherine Agwai Angwec, Branch Manager of the Water and Sanitation Development Facility North, explained that the Ministry of Water and Environment is implementing the Gender for Development project through German Financial Cooperation via KfW.
The WASH component, valued at about €27.2 million, covers 190 schools in 24 districts across the Acholi, Lango and West Nile sub-regions of Northern Uganda. In Yumbe District alone, the project is being implemented in 17 schools; 12 primary and five secondary schools with a budget of about Shs12 billion.
“We have already seen the infrastructure at Yumbe SS: the two-stance VIP latrine for girls, the four-stance facility for boys, and the three-classroom block. There has been a complaint about water supply, but through German Financial Cooperation via KfW, we are also going to implement a water supply system for Yumbe Town Council, and Yumbe SS will be a beneficiary,” Angwec said.
She added that designs for the water supply system are currently being prepared by consultants, with the project expected to start by the end of this year and be completed in 2028 to stabilize water supply in the area.
Sarah Afisha, the Head Teacher of Yumbe SS, said the new classroom block and toilet facilities will have a significant positive impact on learners.
“We have received the two-stance VIP latrine, a changing room and an incinerator for the girls. Our girls have now found a home within Yumbe SS. Thank you very much to the EU, the Ministry of Water and Environment and KfW. I now have a duty to act as their senior mother at school, and this project will not go in vain, we will ensure the girl child remains in school,” Afisha said.
She added: “We also received assorted tree seedlings from KfW to improve our environment. Beneficiaries were trained on how to use and maintain the new facilities. We have a training manual for this purpose. This will help accelerate completion rates and increase enrolment in the near future.”
Tomson Obong, the Yumbe district Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) on behalf of Yumbe district leadership, thanked Government and partners including European Union, KfW, Enable and UNICEF for prioritizing Yumbe, a refugee-hosting district out of the many districts in Uganda
Speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports, Musa Birungi, the Principal Education Officer and WASH Coordinator in the MoES, said the new classroom block and latrine facilities would help address the school’s infrastructure needs, provide additional space and reduce congestion.
He expressed appreciation to the Government of Uganda, the European Union, KfW and the Ministry of Water and Environment for making the project possible.
Eng. Dr Felix Twinomucunguzi, the Assistant Commissioner for Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Services, who represented the Permanent Secretary of MoWE, said the project aims to empower adolescent girls by increasing access to inclusive quality education, strengthening knowledge and exercise of sexual and reproductive health rights, and protecting them from sexual and gender-based violence. He said the project also supports boys to ensure a safe learning environment for all.
“With these facilities, our purpose is to demonstrate good practice. We hope the 17 schools in Yumbe that are receiving such facilities will serve as a good example to all schools in the district. Yumbe SS, we are leaving a significant responsibility with you. We would like to return after five years and find these facilities still working well, that will be the joy for everyone,” Twinomucunguzi said.
He thanked all implementing partners, especially the European Union, for funding the project.
Karolina Hedstrom, the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Uganda, said the facilities being handed over represent practical improvements in the lives of learners and their future prospects.
She thanked the Government of Uganda, all implementing partners, the district leadership, teachers, students of Yumbe SS and the technical teams for contributing to the project’s success.
Hedstrom reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to working with Uganda and partners in Yumbe to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education through improved WASH infrastructure.
The colourful ceremony was preceded by an inspection of the newly constructed classroom block and toilet facilities, as well as tree planting by the officials who graced the occasion.