Dumbeta Primary School
Digitally enhanced photo
Dumbeta Primary School is the oldest and the largest of Dumbeta Ward’s five primary schools. Until 2003 it was the only school in the ward.
Opened: 1992
Enrollment: 698 (2026)
Head Teacher: Ms. Theresia T. Shemkunde
Head Teacher: Ms. Theresia T. Shemkunde
Completed Projects
2021: CONSTRUCTION OF NEW CLASSROOM BUILDING
During the winter of 2017/18 heavy rains caused the collapse of two of Dumbeta Primary School’s three classroom buildings exacerbating the school’s already overcrowded conditions. Thankfully, the buildings were unoccupied at the time, but the loss of the classrooms resulted in class sizes of greater than 100 pupils.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the December 2020 community meeting to determine the priorities for the coming year was held virtually. At the meeting, the community decided that their top priority was addressing the extreme overcrowding at Dumbeta Primary School by constructing a new classroom building. Adding three new classrooms helped reduce class sizes.
2024: SCHOOL KITCHEN
A new kitchen began serving meals to Dumbeta Primary School’s students in April 2024. It was the third school kitchen that the RVP has helped finance. These kitchens have helped make significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that all 2500 of Dumbeta Ward’s primary and secondary school students receive a nutritious hot lunch every school day.
Research has demonstrated that school lunch programs alleviate hunger, improve school performance, incentivize school attendance, and decrease dropout rates.
A clean and spacious kitchen with the capacity to prepare food for an entire student population is an integral part of a successful school lunch program. The kitchens built by RVP are free-standing buildings that contain sinks for washing and food preparation, a storage room for keeping grain away from rodents, and fuel-efficient stoves that burn substantially less wood than an open fire.
The community provided 10% of the funds for Dumbeta Primary School’s new kitchen and the RVP provided the remainder. Community members signed a memorandum of understanding that obligating parents to donate sufficient food to the school to provide all students a daily hot lunch throughout the school year. The community is also responsible for maintaining the kitchen in good condition.
2024: CONSTRUCTION OF NEW CLASSROOM BUILDING
Despite the new classrooms built at Dumbeta Primary School in 2021, overcrowding remained a significant problem. During the community meeting held in November of 2023, building additional classrooms was identified as a top priority. With the addition of this new building, which includes three more classrooms and an office, the school now has a total of ten classrooms.
More classrooms are still needed to achieve the goal of a maximum of 40 students per classroom. We hope to build two additional classroom blocks, each with three classrooms, in the coming years. This should have a significant impact on class size, teacher morale, and student achievement.
