OMORO District: St. Martine Vocational School Opit in Omoro town council has failed to reopen despite the government allowing learning institutions to reopen again after two years of lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
St. Martine’s is a private institution and is the only vocational school in Omoro town council. It was founded by the Opit Catholic Church in 1999, but the roof of the school building was blown off by wind in 2018, and the school is still closed.
In an interview with URN, Lowrance Omach, the principal of the school, says 35 million shillings are required to fix the roof, renovate the dilapidated walls, and buy learning materials damaged by wind.
He says in 2018 they had four hundred students in the school in the different departments, such as driving and mechanics, bricklaying and concrete practice, welding, and tailoring.
However, due to the damage to the school, they will be unable to call back students this year.
Omach added that they are looking for support from well-wishers and other development partners to support them in the renovation of the school structures because the engineer from the district has already calculated the amount of money needed to finish the work.
Justin Okot, the chairperson of the school management committee of the affected school, also says the failure to reopen their school this year has affected many students because St. Martine Vocational School Opit is the only technical school in the town council and the majority of students who were there cannot get admission to a proper school nearby by now.
He says St. Martine Vocational School in Opit served as a learning centre for vulnerable children like orphans and child mothers, among others, and several NGOs supported them to learn different vocational skills.
Molly Ayoo, a mother of two children, says her children were studying in that school and they were supported by an NGO, but now they are at home.
Oliver Aciro, a year-two student in tailoring, told URN in an interview that she could not afford to get a new school to continue with her studies because she was supported by an NGO in St. Mrtine’s.
Omara Jimmy, also a year two student in block laying and concrete practice, says his parents failed to take him to a new school due to financial challenges as he was supported by an NGO.
According to reports from the district department of education, Omoro district has only two vocational-technical schools, namely Bobi Community Vocational School in Bobi Sub County, which is 15 kilometres from Omoro Town Council and is under government support, and Labora Youth Center located in Labora Sub-County, 11 kilometres from Omoro Town Council, which is also government funded.