Greenhill Academy, Buwaate, a sister school to Greenhill Academy, Kibuli has regretted and apologized for the “age-unsuitable literature” that was found in its school library.
This action proceeds complaints from one parent about the appropriateness of the books on the topic of love, sex and relationships.
The parents found the book in her eight-year-old daughter’s school bag, which the girl said she had gotten from the school library.
This information was then shared across social media, sparking outrage among parents especially those with students attending the institution.
Shortly after parents complained, the school addressed the situation on Wednesday.
Although the education ministry has yet to comment about the situation, the school Rector Joy Veronica Maraka says that following the regrettable incident, she held a meeting with the ethics and integrity minister Fr. Lokodo who committed to work with the school.
“The school has also embarked on a thorough re-cataloging and assessment of the contents of the library so that no such incident reoccurs,” Mrs Maraka said.
“However, it is unfortunate that there are parallel and disingenuous messages being circulated on various platforms concerning the matter. In many such messages, there are displayed sets of books which neither belong to the school nor are traceable to the school library,” she further said
Fr. Lokodo says that the school management confessed that in their library they had copies of a book titled ‘Love Lessons’ .
“My team was able to confiscate copies found in the shelves. We are trying to trace where the book came from and who is the supplier and we will take action, however the supplier of the book remains unknown” he stated, in an interview.
Maraka requested parents to seek audience with the school’s administration for any issue that may arise instead of running to social media.
Plot summary of ‘Girls in Love’ by Jacqueline Wilson (One of the books the Parent shared, the other being ‘Love Lessons’ by the same author)
The novel is narrated by Eleanor Allard, a.k.a. Ellie. The book opens with Ellie’s Family holiday to Wales where she meets a nerdy boy named Dan, Dan falls for Ellie and asks her out but his feelings are not reciprocated and Ellie turns him down.
Ellie arrives back at school after the summer holidays to find her best friend, Nadine, has a new boyfriend named Liam, her other friend, Magda, soon asks a boy named Greg out as well. Feeling left out, Ellie lies to her friends about dating Dan and describes him falsely as cool, handsome and 15 years old.
Magda and Ellie begin to worry about the pressure Liam is putting on Nadine about sex, but Nadine dismisses their worries and after a fight begins refuses to speak to them. But eventually she forgives them both.
One night on Magda’s birthday the three girls sneak out to a night club called “Seventh Heaven” and it is revealed that Liam was only using Nadine for sex when they meet some other girls that had been Liam’s victims. Liam had planned to break up with her after she ‘put out’ or, had sex with him. At a friend’s party Dan turns up unannounced, and Ellie is mortified.
Soon the truth about Dan is revealed to Ellie’s friends; however, when gatecrashers arrive at the party and cause trouble, Dan intervenes and saves the day. To Ellie’s surprise, this impresses Magda and Nadine and causes Ellie to rethink her first impressions of Dan. The book ends with Ellie and Dan’s first kiss in the room.
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