Soroti Authorities Ordered to Vacate Classrooms Used as Teachers’ Quarters

What the report says

Soroti City authorities have been ordered to stop using classrooms at Moruapesur Primary School as teachers’ living quarters after a monitoring exercise found the arrangement was worsening overcrowding and reducing space for pupils. According to Watchdog Uganda, the directive came from the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Secretariat under the Office of the President.

The report says six teachers had been staying in classrooms, leaving more than 67 learners in rooms designed for about 55 pupils. Dr. Sr. Mary Grace Akiror, deputy head of the RDC Secretariat, instructed education and city officials to find alternative accommodation for the affected teachers and return the rooms to teaching use. She also cautioned that classrooms are meant for learning, not residential use.

School headteacher Caroline Aero said Moruapesur Primary School continues to face serious infrastructure gaps, especially a lack of staff housing. Some teachers reportedly share the few available staff houses, while others travel in from home. The school has also tried to raise support from parents, but those efforts have not fully met its needs.

The intervention reflects broader concerns about under-resourced public schools in Uganda, where shortages of staff accommodation and learning facilities can force schools to improvise in ways that affect pupils’ safety and education. The RDC Secretariat said the City Education authorities, District Education Officer and RDC should urgently resolve the matter and ensure classrooms are used only for instruction.