How missionaries built first schools
As Christianity spread and the colonial administration expanded, more schools were established across Uganda.
A picture showing Kings College, Budo’s main gate. (File)
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INDEPENDENCE DAY SERIES
Uganda’s formal education system traces its roots to the arrival of Christian missionaries in the late 19th Century. While historians say missionary education was primarily intended to spread Christianity, it also introduced literacy, vocational skills and administrative training that would later form the foundation of the country’s modern workforce.
From humble reed-and-grass classrooms on Mengo Hill to Makerere University, the institutions established by missionaries and local leaders went on to educate many of Uganda’s political, religious and professional elites.
The beginning at Mengo Hill
The story of Uganda’s first formal school begins on Mengo Hill in Kampala. According to school archives, a missionary identified as Miss Chadwick started teaching reading and writing to young boys who assisted missionaries in the area.
By 1895, the first school structures had been erected at Mengo. Built from strong reeds and roofed with grass, the classrooms marked the beginning of organised formal education in Uganda. As enrollment increased, a larger structure was constructed near the original classrooms with the support of Apollo Kaggwa, then the Katikkiro of Buganda. The school would later become Mengo SS.
Schools for a new elite
Inspired by a visit to Britain’s Eton College, Apollo Kaggwa and Ham Mukasa worked with missionaries to establish a similar institution in Buganda. The school began as a boy- only institution and would become one of the most influential schools.
The birth of girls’ education
The establishment of Budo raised another question among Buganda’s leaders. If boys were receiving advanced education, where would girls from similar backgrounds be trained? Historical accounts suggest that Apollo Kaggwa was among those concerned that educated young men would have limited opportunities to marry women with comparable educational backgrounds.
Concerned that girls lacked similar educational opportunities, Buganda’s leaders supported the establishment of Gayaza High School in 1906. Initially attended mainly by daughters of chiefs, it later became one of Uganda’s leading girls’ schools.
The expansion of mission schools
As Christianity spread and the colonial administration expanded, more schools were established across Uganda. As Christianity spread, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim communities established schools across the country, including Namilyango College, St Mary’s College Kisubi, Busoga College Mwiri, Mbarara High School, Nyakasura School, Trinity College Nabbingo, Kibuli Secondary School, Nabisunsa Girls School and Ntare School.
A turning point for girls
In 1933, King’s College, Budo admitted girls into its secondary section, expanding opportunities for women’s education in Uganda.
The rise of higher education
As the number of secondary school graduates increased, pressure grew for institutions that could provide higher learning. In 1922, the Uganda Technical School was established in Kampala with an initial enrolment of 14 students. Established in 1922 as the Uganda Technical School with 14 students, the institution later grew into Makerere University, becoming a leading centre of higher learning.
Training leaders
The impact of these early schools extended beyond the classroom as they produced many of the political leaders, administrators, professionals and religious figures who would shape Uganda.