“Never joke with people’s children. The school ceased to be responsible for the Primary Seven pupils immediately after sitting for their PLE papers. The only thing you were supposed to do was to hand over the children to their respective parents,” said Kyeyune.
The Police in Mukono Division on Tuesday grilled the school director of Pherry Junior School Mukono for unlawfully detaining a Primary Seven Candidate for five days after sitting for her Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
Mukono Division Police Commander, Edrisa Kyeyune found out that Sylvia Okite Nandudu, the Pherry Junior School director had allegedly detained over eight Primary Seven candidates for their parents’ failure to clear their children’s school dues to zero balance.
Pherry Junior School is located at Kitete Cell in Mukono Central Division, Mukono Municipality. Okite who was nearly arrested took herself to Mukono Police to report one of the parents, Joseph Kasirye, the father to a 13-year-old Primary Seven candidate who is among the children who had been in the school’s confinement for over a week after writing their Primary Leaving Examinations on Thursday November 9, 2023.
Before going to Mukono Police, Okite is said to have locked Kasirye inside the school premises after inviting him to school, accusing him of having taken the matter into the attention of the media.
Kasirye said he had pleaded with the school to have his daughter released as he looks for the over sh2.2m which the school is demanding from him but in vain.
After narrating the matter to the DPC Kyeyune, he instead blamed Okite for the unlawful confinement of the children, which was illegal.
He therefore forced Okite to release the girl from the school’s detention because confining her was illegal.
According to Mukono Division Police commander, Edrisa Kyeyune, the director of Pherry Junior School, Sylvia Okite had detained her pupil after sitting for her Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) accusing her parents for failure to clear sh2.2m of school fees.
Police identified the pupil’s parents as Joseph Kasirye, a bodaboda rider and Florence Nabbanja who are residents of Mukono town.
“Never joke with people’s children. The school ceased to be responsible for the Primary Seven pupils immediately after sitting for their PLE papers. The only thing you were supposed to do was to hand over the children to their respective parents,” said Kyeyune.
He advised Okite to look for alternative means of demanding for the school fees balance including working with Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) to see how the results would be withheld until the parent clears the school dues.
“If even Police are only mandated to detain people for 48 hours, how can a school confine a poor pupil who is innocent for all these days,” the DPC wondered.
He therefore asked Okite to produce the girl to police with immediate effect for her to get her freedom. Kyeyune asked police detectives to record Okite’s statement as she directed her teachers to take the girl to the police.
However, on Tuesday morning, our reporter visited Pherry Junior School where he found Kasirye, the father of the detained girl also locked inside the school premises.
Kasirye said that the school administration called him to go and pick his daughter in the morning but when he reached the headteacher’s office, he was given a document which he was asked to sign if he wanted to get his child.
“I asked for a copy of the document to read through but they declined saying my role was to sign and get my daughter saying it was a mere commitment of payment. I refused because I would not assent to an agreement which I had not read through,” he said.
He confirmed that at the last visitation day to the PLE, the school asked for any parent with a child in Primary Seven to clear the school fees to zero balance, adding that because he had no money, he handed to them his bodaboda card, with commitment that if he fails to pay the money, the school will be free to take the motorcycle.
“To my dismay, when I went to pick my daughter from school on Thursday after writing her final PLE paper, the school declined to hand her over to me saying I was supposed to first pay the money which I did not have. From that day, I have been going there asking for my daughter but in vain,” he explained inside the closed school gate with three padlocks.
The DPC Kyeyune also asked for Kasirye’s release, and after getting out of the school went to police and met the Mukono police chief.
It is alleged that the school had detained a total of eight pupils whose parents had failed to clear the school dues to zero balance.
While talking to our reporter on phone, Okite on Monday said other parents were ok with the school’s decision but it was only Kasirye who was causing the confusion.
“I have educated their children and allowed them to sit for their PLE, then what criteria apart from this should I use to get my money?” she asked.
By press time, the victim had been taken to Mukono Police division headquarters where police was to hand her over to the parents after recording statements from all the parties.
It was however not known whether the police were to charge Okite with unlawful detention of a pupil and have her detained or not.