It’s a new dawn at Aanga primary school, Terego with DRDIP

Safety, prospect of academic excellence and mindset change optimism now characterize Aanga primary school, Terego district in Uganda’s West Nile sub-region –where World Bank funding is helping to headrest refugee hosting through a development approach.

Classrooms constructed by DRDIP at Aanga P. school

The Office of the Prime Minister through Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) is responsible for this positive transition. The project has revamped the school’s infrastructure, changing the outlook of the institution and attracting more children. Teachers are now comfortable to deliver service in this once ramshackle learning environment, says Nillo Candia, the school’s deputy head-teacher.

“Before DRDIP intervened, this school was congested, we had water shortage with learners sharing water points with the surrounding community of both refugees and host communities”, Candia testified. “We couldn’t imagine the infrastructural change we see today. We are now challenged to strive for academic excellence only, because more pupils are joining every day to benefit from these beauty”.

Classrooms at Aanga primary school before DRDIP 

Teacher Candia adds that before the implementation of DRDIP, the School’s highest enrollment figure was 700 pupils annually but now the enrollment digit staggers towards 1,000 pupils because more learners have been attracted and parents convinced to send their children to Aanga Primary school.

Latrine stance constructed by DRDIP at Aanga P. Sch

DRDIP Uganda uses beneficiary management structures called: Community Project Management Committees (CPMCs) and Community Procurement Committees(CPCs). This is a bottom-top Community Driven Development approach that empowers targeted communities to take charge of their funded development projects from needs assessment, procurement of services, implementation, monitoring and sustainability roles.

Through CPMCs and CPCs, the beneficiary community of Aanga primary school procured services of RIB Engineering Company Limited that constructed:  two classroom blocks; one with an Office; a block of 5 stance latrines disaggregated to serve different categories of users: girls, boys, children with disabilities and the teaching staff.

DRDIP further supplied furniture; classroom desks, tables, bookshelves, and chairs. The structures are well protected through installation of lightning arresters; and to further improve on the school’s water sanitation and hygiene practices, the project supplied and mounted 10,000litre rainwater harvest tanks on the newly constructed roofs.

Innocent Droma, a Primary Seven pupil of the school says, “by the way, we used to carry all our books home on daily basis because we didn’t have where to keep them at school, we suffered rains drenching them off more than often, but today we have shelves within our newly constructed classrooms”. Droma is also happy with the improved water source within their school, “we no longer struggle for water with the neighboring communities because these tanks tap and keep for us a lot of water whenever there is rain”.

The work of DRDIP has also elated the girl child. Brenda Asianju, a girl in primary five, says the newly constructed structures have encouraged more girls to join Aanga Primary school. “There is privacy in the latrines and we also have changing rooms within the girls’ section. It makes us feel respected and protected”, says Asianju. She adds that the risk of contracting diseases from dirty washrooms is now low considering the quality and standard of work and the boost in water supply within their school.