By Mulengera Reporters
Godfrey Sentongo, the Headmaster Lubiri SS, has responded to critics who are up in arms accusing him of acting unfairly when he last Friday sent a male teacher to escort a female student for week-long trip to China.
Critics (mostly members of the alumni association, who have always been at loggerheads with him) say Sentongo should have used discretionary wisdom and chose a female teacher to escort the student Patricia Nabanja to avoid sexual temptation that comes with being accompanied by a male teacher.
Along with Modi James, Nabanja was awarded the trip on the account of strong academic performance that saw her score 20 points in last year’s UACE exams.
It was a decision of the Lubiri SSS governing Board to reward good performance as a way of motivating other students.
The two academic stars left last Friday for their luxury trip to China and Sentongo dispatched two male teachers David Kidde and Livingstone Male to escort them.
This is something some of the stakeholders are protesting saying it wasn’t a prudent decision and want the BoD to undertake some investigations into how the decision was reached to send the two male teachers. Sentongo says he isn’t obliged to explain to the rest of the teachers as long he acts within what the BoD directed him to do.
Sentongo vehemently defended himself in an interview with Mulengera News. The unrepentant Sentongo said the decision regarding which teacher travels to China followed the same principle as the students meaning beneficiaries had to be teachers who produced the best students.
“Those are envious people raising such things but they just have to work hard so that next year they produce the best candidates and get the chance also. I didn’t do anything wrong as headteacher and accounting officer because I only implemented the directive of the BoD,” said Sentongo.
He added that Nabanja is an adult who knows what’s right and wrong and can’t be taken advantage of by the male teacher during the China trip.
“Her parents are very important in this and they are very okay with what we did. We involved them fully and they even accompanied the team to the airport,” Sentongo said. He explained there is nothing unique about Nabanja getting spoilt during the Chinese trip because she has for long been a free adult.
“We gave her a job and she works at the school and travels everyday between home and school meaning she has all the freedom to do what she wants if she was indeed a bad child.” Sentongo added that putting there any other teacher apart from the one who produced best results would have put him in more problems including being perceived as departing from BoD guidelines that only permitted him to reward the best teachers.
“That teacher has always excelled. He doesn’t sleep in school quarters yet he always arrives at 4am in the morning and leaves after 9pm after preps and yet he has never asked me for transport refund. The same teacher goes on to produce the best results. My brother put yourself in my shoes: how do you deprive such a teacher when the opportunity comes?”
He added its understandable this being the first time such a trip is being awarded, there are bound to be lots of misconceptions but there will be more clarity in the subsequent years. (For comments, email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
