Kabarole leaders have waged war against secondary schools in Kampala and Wakiso districts which they accuse of fishing their smartest students who performed best in the district in the previous Primary Leaving Examinations.
Immediately after Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) released the P.L.E Results, school scouts from Kampala and Wakiso reportedly raided Fort Portal schools and put announcements on radio stations, offering bursaries to the best students in the district.
According to district officials, the schools were targeting candidates with aggregate 4, 5 and 6 for full bursaries half bursaries for those above 6 aggregates.
The city schools also sent buses and coasters to pick these students and promised to return them at the end of the term.
This angered local leaders in Kabarole who vowed to fight back.
The mayor Fort Portal Municipality Rev. Willy Muhanga Kintu said he was disappointed by the parents who gave away their children who performed well, to schools outside the district.
Rev. Muhanga asked MPs, the RDC, District Chairperson and Division Chairperson to team up and “put an end to these unscrupulous outsiders.”
Kabarole District Chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga says the district had over 1280 first grades but majority have been poached by schools in Kampala.
This he said is the reason the district performs poorly in secondary school exams the scream is robbed at P7 level.
Hon. Alex Ruhunda MP Fort Portal proposed establishment of a model secondary that will absorb the best performing P.L.E candidates as a way of reviving education standards in the region.
Some of the schools advertising in Fort Portal include Faith High School Sonde, Light Secondary Bulenga, Mityana Central, Mityana Modern, Phaifa High school, St.Andrews Namasuba, Kings Way High School, Standard High School, St.Mark High School.