Kitgum pupils trek 10km for free food in Karamoja

Kitgum: Pupils at Lucomo Primary School in Orom East Sub County Kitgum district reportedly trek 10 kilometers on a daily basis to attend classes in a neighboring school in the Karamoja subregion, where they are providing free meals in schools.

The local authorities say these pupils have opted to attend classes in Karamoja schools to get food provided by the ongoing program initiated by the World Food Program.

These learners are primarily those in upper primary who can trek distances to neighboring schools such as Pire and Lubalangit Primary School, all in Lubalangit sub-county, and Karenga Primary School in Karenga town council, Karenga district.

Kilama Patrick, the area councilor five for Orom East sub-county who doubles as the Kitgum district secretary for health and education for Kitgum district, says the practice has affected the upgrade of the school to reach P7 because pupils who should have enrolled in upper primary are not attending Lucomo Primary School.

Lucomo Primary was closed in 2023 with 200 pupils from P1 to P5.

Currently, all the schools in the Karamoja sub-region are undergoing school feeding programs being implemented by the World Food Program.

The school feeding scheme aims to keep children at school; thus, the feeding program has attracted pupils from the Acholi sub-region of Lucomo, hence affecting the development of those schools that are being neglected by learners.

However, Anathony Lawot Lam, the Kitgum district education officer, faulted the parents for failing to pack food for their school-going children, who were attempting to seek food from the neighboring schools in Karamoja.

Kitgum district has a total of 91 government-granted primary schools with a total of 783 teachers.

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