The Managing Director of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Richard Byarugaba has launched the fifth edition of the annual NSSF Kampala Hash seven Hills Run that peddled at raising funds towards the improvement of learning conditions in public primary schools under Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and in other parts of the country.
In 2016, NSSF embarked on a journey to refurbish the city’s dilapidated school infrastructure. The journey has however, seen a number of schools benefiting from the initiative. The benefited schools include; St. Ponsiano Kyamula P/S, Nakivubo Settlement P/S and Makerere University P /S.
The route traverses the original hills of Kampala namely, Nsambya Nakasero, Kibuli, Old Kampala, Namirembe, Rubaga, and Lubiri and will cover a distance of 21 kilometres.
There is also the 10 kilometres route for participants that prefer a shorter route.
Speaking during the launch of fifth run, Byarugaba said the funds aims at raising Shs 700 million to benefit five schools which include three new schools and completion of works at two other schools. “We need over 5000 individual runners who will pay Shs 25,000 each and participation from over 50 corporate companies if we are to realise our ambitious target this year” he said
Most of the underprivileged children attend public schools. It is befitting that our intervention in education goes towards improvement of learning conditions in these schools. There is no greater impact you can make on community than through education.
“Since we started in 2016, we have realised the magnitude of the need, not only in Kampala but across the country. That inaugural run set in motion a desire to aim for greater good, beyond just a one off contribution to KCCA but to sustain the support through the years.” He said at Mbuya Primary School.
“It is the cornerstone of our ‘Support to Education’ community social responsibility intervention. The Fund’s social responsibility agenda is to continuously make meaningful impact in response to challenge facing the underprivileged communities.” He said
He lauded Equity Bank, MultiChoice Uganda, Umeme Limited, ICEA, Kakira Sugar Limited Saracene Uganda, ICPAU, Capital Markets Authority and media partners which have been publishing stories about the NSSF run.
KCCA Spokesperson, Peter Kaujju who represented the Executive Director of Kampala, Eng. Andrew Kitaka said the average classroom to pupil ratio is 1:68; and in some schools, desk-pupil ratio is as high as 1:5. This means that 1 classroom accommodates at least 68 pupils, while 5 pupils share 1 desk. These are some of the challenges of learning environments in our schools.
‘The schools that are currently undergoing refurbishment from last year’s NSSF Hash Run proceeds are Mbuya C/U Primary School, Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped (KSPH) and St. Paul Nsambya.” He said
He said the School enrollment has gone up because of improvement in classroom facilities. Children now have access to good learning environments which has resulted into improved learning outcomes say at Nakivubo Settlement, the intervention resulted into increase in enrollment
