School in Bungoma where even teachers have jiggers

Standard One pupils at St Jude’s Nabuyeywe Primary School in Bumula, Bungoma County take a lesson. For many years now, the lot have been infested with jiggers, making their lives difficult. (PHOTO: TITUS OTEBA /STANDARD)

St Jude’s Nabuyeywe Primary School in Bumula sub-county, Bungoma has most impressive buildings. However, the facade belies the shoddy interior that has contributed to woes among the teachers and pupils. For many years now, the lot have been infested with jiggers, making their lives difficult.

On an ordinary day, learners sit on the dusty ground due to lack of desks, with some folding old sacks to sit on. Naturally, this has made it easy for the deadly pests to multiply. Principal Florence Mukhebi said efforts to have the classes cemented have been futile, a condition which has fueled the jigger menace.

“Locals are very poor, and poverty has made it difficult to control the menace. Residents cannot afford pesticide to kill the jiggers, and we are forced to live in this condition,” she said. Ms Mukhebi said the administration received Constituency Development Fund (CDF) money to put up decent buildings, but the the flooring was not completed due to inadequate funds.

It is interesting to note that it is not only pupils who have been attacked by jiggers, but teachers too.

A spot check by The Standard revealed that a number of teachers have been infested by jiggers because of sharing the same environment with their students.

Low morale

“The jiggers have not spared my teachers either, three of them in the upper class have been attacked and they have been forced to battle it out in silence,” she said.

The school that was started in 2003 has been performing poorly in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations.

The principal lamented that locals do not take education seriously, and they do not co-operate with teachers, leading to low morale among both teachers and pupils. “We are not the only affected school, our neighbours like Mayanja Kibuke and Nang’eni primary schools plus a host of other academies are suffering from the same jigger menace; poverty and ignorance are the main cause of jigger infestation in this region,” she said.

After the situation was highlighted by the media, Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka visited the school and gave 150 bags of cement that will be used to cement the floors.

And when Ahadi Kenya Trust, Lotto Kenya and other organisations took the anti-jigger campaign to the learning institution last Friday, it was a reprieve for the school fraternity plus villagers who visited the school in large numbers to benefit from the free services.

Governor Lusaka lauded the two organisations for their support. “The county government cannot make it alone because we lack resources to help primary school learners; let organisations such as Ahadi Trust Kenya and Lotto help us,” he said.