Nabumali high struggles to rise from ashes
Nov 17, 2009
A custodian with an infectious smile receives us and asks to register the details of our particulars in a book at the gate of Nabumali High School before we enter.
By Frederick Womakuyu and Richard Wetaya
A custodian with an infectious smile receives us and asks to register the details of our particulars in a book at the gate of Nabumali High School before we enter.
Nestled beneath Wanale hill, overlooking Mbale town, Nabumali High School has a lush green compound. The atmosphere is quiet, with most students busy in the classroom.
The school is trying to come out of the almost near total academic and administrative pit it had sunk into for two decades. Revered as an academic powerhouse for close to seven decades, the institution last appeared among the best five schools in 1988.
The school suffered administrative incompetence, followed by a countless number of strikes from 2002-2008 that led to its fall.
The Government has promised to rehabilitate the school at a total cost of sh1.7b spread over a period of five years starting from June 2010, as part of government rehabilitation of 42 secondary schools.
Nabumali High School headmaster, James Mulomi, says the school is indebted to numerous individuals to the tune of over sh530m. In addition, 98% of the school infrastructure is collapsing.
The school population has dwindled from 1,800 to 870.
From 2003 to 2004, the number of first grades in S.4 declined from 102 to 75 out of 249 students. First grades increased to 116 in 2006 out of 248 due to stability, but the strikes in the successive years of 2006, 2007 and 2008 saw the school having 42 first grades out of a total number of 249 students respectively on average.
Stakeholders of Nabumali may pose a question: How can a school which made many professionals hang on a drip?
Background
Founded in 1912 by the Anglican Church, Nabumali High School boasts of prominent old students like Principal Judge James Ogoola, ICT minister Aggrey Awori, state minister for labour Emmanuel Otaala, minister for the presidency Beatrice Wabudeya, and the chief executive officer of Vision Group, Robert Kabushenga.
Charles Amollo, the deputy headmaster of Nabumali blames poor leadership and financial mismanagement for the school’s woes.
“The school began a policy of unplanned enrolment. Large numbers of students were admitted without expanding the infrastructure. The population put pressure on the available infrastructure and we faced severe shortages,†he explains.
Amollo says while the Ministry of Education recommends that the school is supposed to have a population of about 1,200 students, by 2003, the school had over 2,000 students.
Mulomi says while other schools were increasing fees in 2003 to overcome inflation, Nabumali maintained theirs. “The bursar used to collect the fees in cash which exposed the system to corruption. Some students were forging receipts and the school did not even know the total number of students it had.â€
Amidst the financial constraints, there was uncontrolled creation of jobs by the administrators. When they needed only 60 teachers, the administration recruited more than 75.
Corruption spreads through
Mulomi reveals that when the administrators realised money was running out, they took tenders to supply the school items. “They undersupplied items and paid themselves in kickbacks and favours,†he says. By the time management realised it, they had incurred a debt of sh700m.
“Management started servicing the debt and forgot about learning. They could not purchase laboratory items and some teachers were getting no pay."
The strikes
Mulomi says the teachers and support staff convinced students to strike.
Lydia Watulo, the deputy headmistress for gender, says when there was shortage of water for three days, the students demonstrated and burnt the school administration block.
Thomas Opinny, an S.5 student who was then in S.1 says: “We drank contaminated water from the swimming pool. There was congestion, we shared beds and they turned a toilet into a dormitory. We marched to the district administration to present our grievances but when the older boys saw that this was not working, they burnt the administration block.â€
After the strike, the students, supported by the community, forced out two successive headmasters. One headmaster tried to restore order by retrenching the extra staff while the other was sabotaged by members of the school board and PTA because he introduced a tendering and procurement system that they rejected.
There is hope
Mulomi who joined the school in September, 2008 has built a water reservoir tank to supply constant water to the school. He has also recruited an external certified auditor to oversee the financial dealings of the school and a new board and PTA members have been elected to oversee the financial and technical activities of the school.
Watulo says the school has also set up different committees of discipline, peace and extra-curricula activities. “We have also engaged in peace with different schools through sports and seminars. We hope to perform better,†she adds.
Beyond these activities, the school infrastructure remains dilapidated with the once revered swimming pool overgrown with vegetation. It needs over sh50m for rehabilitation.
Maybe it is time for the old students to take charge as they wait for the Government support. Connie Masaba the co-chairperson for the Kampala Chapter Task Force for the Old Nabumali High School Students, says they are going to have a re-union on December 12, 2009 to come up with a strategic plan to revive the school.
“We are mobilising old students to contribute to rebuilding the school but also revive the academic standards,†she says.
One can only hope this call will be heeded.
A custodian with an infectious smile receives us and asks to register the details of our particulars in a book at the gate of Nabumali High School before we enter.
Nestled beneath Wanale hill, overlooking Mbale town, Nabumali High School has a lush green compound. The atmosphere is quiet, with most students busy in the classroom.
The school is trying to come out of the almost near total academic and administrative pit it had sunk into for two decades. Revered as an academic powerhouse for close to seven decades, the institution last appeared among the best five schools in 1988.
The school suffered administrative incompetence, followed by a countless number of strikes from 2002-2008 that led to its fall.
The Government has promised to rehabilitate the school at a total cost of sh1.7b spread over a period of five years starting from June 2010, as part of government rehabilitation of 42 secondary schools.
Nabumali High School headmaster, James Mulomi, says the school is indebted to numerous individuals to the tune of over sh530m. In addition, 98% of the school infrastructure is collapsing.
The school population has dwindled from 1,800 to 870.
From 2003 to 2004, the number of first grades in S.4 declined from 102 to 75 out of 249 students. First grades increased to 116 in 2006 out of 248 due to stability, but the strikes in the successive years of 2006, 2007 and 2008 saw the school having 42 first grades out of a total number of 249 students respectively on average.
Stakeholders of Nabumali may pose a question: How can a school which made many professionals hang on a drip?
Background
Founded in 1912 by the Anglican Church, Nabumali High School boasts of prominent old students like Principal Judge James Ogoola, ICT minister Aggrey Awori, state minister for labour Emmanuel Otaala, minister for the presidency Beatrice Wabudeya, and the chief executive officer of Vision Group, Robert Kabushenga.
Charles Amollo, the deputy headmaster of Nabumali blames poor leadership and financial mismanagement for the school’s woes.
“The school began a policy of unplanned enrolment. Large numbers of students were admitted without expanding the infrastructure. The population put pressure on the available infrastructure and we faced severe shortages,†he explains.
Amollo says while the Ministry of Education recommends that the school is supposed to have a population of about 1,200 students, by 2003, the school had over 2,000 students.
Mulomi says while other schools were increasing fees in 2003 to overcome inflation, Nabumali maintained theirs. “The bursar used to collect the fees in cash which exposed the system to corruption. Some students were forging receipts and the school did not even know the total number of students it had.â€
Amidst the financial constraints, there was uncontrolled creation of jobs by the administrators. When they needed only 60 teachers, the administration recruited more than 75.
Corruption spreads through
Mulomi reveals that when the administrators realised money was running out, they took tenders to supply the school items. “They undersupplied items and paid themselves in kickbacks and favours,†he says. By the time management realised it, they had incurred a debt of sh700m.
“Management started servicing the debt and forgot about learning. They could not purchase laboratory items and some teachers were getting no pay."
The strikes
Mulomi says the teachers and support staff convinced students to strike.
Lydia Watulo, the deputy headmistress for gender, says when there was shortage of water for three days, the students demonstrated and burnt the school administration block.
Thomas Opinny, an S.5 student who was then in S.1 says: “We drank contaminated water from the swimming pool. There was congestion, we shared beds and they turned a toilet into a dormitory. We marched to the district administration to present our grievances but when the older boys saw that this was not working, they burnt the administration block.â€
After the strike, the students, supported by the community, forced out two successive headmasters. One headmaster tried to restore order by retrenching the extra staff while the other was sabotaged by members of the school board and PTA because he introduced a tendering and procurement system that they rejected.
There is hope
Mulomi who joined the school in September, 2008 has built a water reservoir tank to supply constant water to the school. He has also recruited an external certified auditor to oversee the financial dealings of the school and a new board and PTA members have been elected to oversee the financial and technical activities of the school.
Watulo says the school has also set up different committees of discipline, peace and extra-curricula activities. “We have also engaged in peace with different schools through sports and seminars. We hope to perform better,†she adds.
Beyond these activities, the school infrastructure remains dilapidated with the once revered swimming pool overgrown with vegetation. It needs over sh50m for rehabilitation.
Maybe it is time for the old students to take charge as they wait for the Government support. Connie Masaba the co-chairperson for the Kampala Chapter Task Force for the Old Nabumali High School Students, says they are going to have a re-union on December 12, 2009 to come up with a strategic plan to revive the school.
“We are mobilising old students to contribute to rebuilding the school but also revive the academic standards,†she says.
One can only hope this call will be heeded.