Kanakulya, the messiah of Entebbe's nursery education

By Gladys Kalibbala

Anyone who lived in Entebbe around the 1940s probably know Kyagalanyi Nursery School.Located in Katabi at the time, it was believed to have been one of the best.

And if you attended the same school in the 1970s, you probably also remember the jolly teacher who used to wait for the children at the gate. That was Joyce Nalongo Kanakulya who has been a teacher at the school since 1970.

“Although I have been getting little pay, I am proud my mission has been accomplished. I gave many children a good education foundation,” Kanakulya says.

One of the prominent personalities that went through her hands is the speaker of the Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga.

Kanakulya remembers Kadaga as an active girl, who asked many questions at her early age. She was also good at story telling.

Kadaga too remembers Kanakulya’s motherly care and teaching skills, which enabled them understand whatever she taught.

“She taught me how to write and recite the alphabet. She was always willing to give answers to my questions,” Kadaga says.

The director of Naguru Hospital, Dr. Edward Naddumba, who also went through Kanakulya’s hands hails her service to the community.

“It was the only nursery in the area and served over three villages,” Naddumba recalls.

He adds that Kanakulya instilled in them discipline and Christian values, which has helped many of her pupils accomplish their goals.

The speaker of Entebbe Municipal Council, Annet Balega, a former pupil, explains how Kanakulya has helped her community by charging affordable fees compared to other nursery schools in the area.

“It’s the only nursery in the area, which charges less than sh50,000 but teaches the children well,” Balega says.

It was started to help Africans educate their children. It was the only nursery school in Entebbe.

The late Ziyadi Kibuuka donated the land on which the school stands.

“Initially, the place housed a bar and restaurant, but when the owner, an Indian retired he left it to the community to start a school,” Kanakulya explains.

She adds Kyagalanyi Nursery School meant to love one another as that time the blacks faced discrimination from the Europeans.

Kanakulya was born to Saulo Kanakulya and Rose Nanyonga of Kigenya village in Kyotera.

She went to Kabuwoko Primary School in 1952 and later Nalinnya Lwantale – Ndejje and Ndejje Junior School.

Kanakulya trained as a teacher at Lady Irene’s Ndejje College and completed in 1966. She was posted to Mwererwe Primary School for two years and later Kitala Primary School where she taught P.3 and P.4 for two years.

When she was transferred to Nanziga Primary School in Sisa in 1970, she pleaded with the authorities to remain near a hospital because she suffered from asthma.

However, they did not listen to her plea and she resigned to join nursery teaching at Kyagalanyi- Katabi.

After a year the teacher she met there left and Kanakulya stayed behind to run the school.

Future plans

Kyagalanyi Nursery was demolished and in its place the municipality built Chang-Sha- Model School. Kanakulya had to look for alternatives as she never wanted to close the school.

Currently she is in a squeezed place at her home. She says her new neighbor blocked the entrance to the school, but the parents still use the footpath to bring their children to school.

A total of 70 children and four teachers she has are sheltered in a wooden tworoomed house, which she plans to improve.

“I am looking for funds to put up a permanent block of four classrooms so that children in this area do not walk long distances to acquire nursery education,” she says.

Kanakulya, however, noted that people in the area give birth to many children yet some of them have no jobs, which put their children’s education at risk.