Schools in Ogur Sub-county, Lira District, are grappling with financial constraints that threaten the smooth running of daily activities, with headteachers calling for collective efforts to improve education standards amid growing concerns over inadequate government Universial Primary Education (UPE) capitation grants.
The concerns emerged on Thursday, October 29, 2026, as the Lira District Women Farmers Network, a community-based organisation, visited nine government-aided primary schools in the sub-county to encourage Primary Seven candidates ahead of the 2026 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
During the visit, the organisation gave success cards and sugar to candidates, an intervention its founding member, Grace Atim Ogwang, said was intended to complement government and other stakeholders’ efforts in supporting education.
Atim said the initiative was not meant to compete with or undermine existing interventions but to encourage learners, strengthen their confidence, and assure them of community support as they prepared for their examinations. The sugar, she added, would help candidates prepare tea and porridge during the examination period.
She said the organisation had previously distributed question-and-answer booklets to the same schools in June, drawing inspiration from examination questions that used to appear in the now-defunct Rupiny newspaper, which she said had helped many candidates in their preparations.
Atim added that the organisation had also provided mathematical sets to selected schools and intended to extend its interventions beyond Ogur Sub-county to cover all sub-counties and town councils in Lira District.
She said the examinations should be viewed as part of the learners’ journey towards higher levels of education and their future professional careers.
However, the intervention also brought into focus the financial challenges confronting schools, with headteachers appealing for broader support to address gaps in education financing.
Boniface Apoka, headteacher of Akor Primary School, which has registered 27 candidates for this year’s PLE, said operating the school had become increasingly difficult following the suspension of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) contributions by the government.
Apoka said schools had been left to depend on government capitation grants, which he argued were insufficient to meet their daily operational requirements.
He said the funding constraints had placed many schools in a difficult position, affecting their ability to sustain essential activities.
Moses Acar Ekwang, headteacher of Lwala Primary School, which has 49 candidates registered for the examinations, welcomed the organisation’s earlier provision of question-and-answer booklets, saying the materials had greatly supported candidates’ preparations.
Innocent Opio, headteacher of Aler Primary School, also commended the organisation, saying the question-and-answer booklets had been effectively utilised to strengthen teaching and improve pupils’ academic preparation.
The nine schools reached by the organisation are Akano, Akangi, Akor, Lwala, Coorom, Aler, Omwaloamara, Ogur and Ogur Central primary schools.
The 2026 PLE examinations run from October 30 to November 4, with candidates receiving briefings on October 30 before sitting their actual papers on November 3 and 4.