Caltec Academy gets O’ Level
Mar 19, 2006
FROM an A’ level-only secondary school, Caltec Academy is not only expanding the physical infrastructure, but has also introduced the O’ Level section.
By Moses Opolot
FROM an A’ level-only secondary school, Caltec Academy is not only expanding the physical infrastructure, but has also introduced the O’ Level section. The 36-year old school will this year see the pioneer O’ level candidates sit their first UNEB examinations.
The shift in strategy has nothing to do with the quest for more students or the school’s apparent declining performance at A’ level, at least according to the principal Br. Peter Kakooza.
“It is actually due to the continued good performance at A’ Level that the school board decided to introduce the O’ Level section,†says Kakooza.
The introduction of the O’ Level section in 2003 has boosted the school’s enrollment to 700 students.
While admitting that it is going to be a tough year seeing their pioneer O’ Level students sit, Kakooza says the necessary facilities had been put in place and the science laboratories equipped to ensure success.
A new three-storey complex is under construction to house a library, a computer laboratory and more classrooms. The new library is expected to sit 200 students as opposed to the current one which accommodates just 50. The sh700m building is expected to be completed by next year.
Caltec was established in 1970. Its name is an acronym for the first letters of its founders –– Charles, Arthur and Lobo –– CAL. TEC was an addition because the initial idea of the founders was to set up a Technical College. However, being Indians, the founders were expelled from Uganda in 1972 by the late president Idi Amin who in 1973 entrusted the school to the Brothers of Christian Instruction (BCI). In the 1980s and early 1990s, the school was at par in performance with other BCI-run schools like St. Mary’s College Kisubi, St. Henry’s College Kitovu and Bishop Comboni College.
But while most schools run by BCI like Kisubi, Kitovu, Comboni College, St. Charles Lwanga S.S Kasasa, St. Leo’s S.S Kyegobe and Uganda Martyrs High School Rubaga have continued to attract public attention by their good performance, Caltec seems to have taken a low profile.
Kakooza, however, insists the school has maintained its academic might “I don’t think this has changed by even a split,†says Kakooza.
“Caltec has always been and still continues to be a great performer at A’ Level. Actually our strength is especially in science subjects in which our students continue to perform best. For example, of the 262 A’ Level candidates who sat in 2005, over 200 managed to meet the required scores of two principal passes for admission to universities and other tertiary institutions.
“This represents over three quarters of the entire batch. This to me is very good performance especially considering the fact that we admit students from all sorts of schools ranging from first-rate to third-rate schools,†he argues.
Kakooza supports his arguments with performance statistics over the past five years.
He said in 2004, 60 students got four principal passes up from 38 in 2003, 32 in 2002 and 24 in 2001. During the same period, 88 got three principal passes in 2004, 93 in 2003, 89 in 2002 and 75 in 2001 as well as 46 with two principal passes in 2004, 55 in 2003, 45 in 2002 and 73 in 2001 respectively.
“These figures signify that 80% of the students who sat during each of the said years obtained the minimum requirement of at least two principal passes for admission to university,†Kakooza said.
However, it is believed Caltec’s fame was derived from repeaters who missed joining university by only a few points.
However, one of the teachers says: “But with the introduction of private sponsorship at Makerere and the opening of many private universities, most senior six students no longer find it necessary to repeat. So the kind of students admitted these days are not repeaters who were target readers,†said one of the teachers.
Ends
FROM an A’ level-only secondary school, Caltec Academy is not only expanding the physical infrastructure, but has also introduced the O’ Level section. The 36-year old school will this year see the pioneer O’ level candidates sit their first UNEB examinations.
The shift in strategy has nothing to do with the quest for more students or the school’s apparent declining performance at A’ level, at least according to the principal Br. Peter Kakooza.
“It is actually due to the continued good performance at A’ Level that the school board decided to introduce the O’ Level section,†says Kakooza.
The introduction of the O’ Level section in 2003 has boosted the school’s enrollment to 700 students.
While admitting that it is going to be a tough year seeing their pioneer O’ Level students sit, Kakooza says the necessary facilities had been put in place and the science laboratories equipped to ensure success.
A new three-storey complex is under construction to house a library, a computer laboratory and more classrooms. The new library is expected to sit 200 students as opposed to the current one which accommodates just 50. The sh700m building is expected to be completed by next year.
Caltec was established in 1970. Its name is an acronym for the first letters of its founders –– Charles, Arthur and Lobo –– CAL. TEC was an addition because the initial idea of the founders was to set up a Technical College. However, being Indians, the founders were expelled from Uganda in 1972 by the late president Idi Amin who in 1973 entrusted the school to the Brothers of Christian Instruction (BCI). In the 1980s and early 1990s, the school was at par in performance with other BCI-run schools like St. Mary’s College Kisubi, St. Henry’s College Kitovu and Bishop Comboni College.
But while most schools run by BCI like Kisubi, Kitovu, Comboni College, St. Charles Lwanga S.S Kasasa, St. Leo’s S.S Kyegobe and Uganda Martyrs High School Rubaga have continued to attract public attention by their good performance, Caltec seems to have taken a low profile.
Kakooza, however, insists the school has maintained its academic might “I don’t think this has changed by even a split,†says Kakooza.
“Caltec has always been and still continues to be a great performer at A’ Level. Actually our strength is especially in science subjects in which our students continue to perform best. For example, of the 262 A’ Level candidates who sat in 2005, over 200 managed to meet the required scores of two principal passes for admission to universities and other tertiary institutions.
“This represents over three quarters of the entire batch. This to me is very good performance especially considering the fact that we admit students from all sorts of schools ranging from first-rate to third-rate schools,†he argues.
Kakooza supports his arguments with performance statistics over the past five years.
He said in 2004, 60 students got four principal passes up from 38 in 2003, 32 in 2002 and 24 in 2001. During the same period, 88 got three principal passes in 2004, 93 in 2003, 89 in 2002 and 75 in 2001 as well as 46 with two principal passes in 2004, 55 in 2003, 45 in 2002 and 73 in 2001 respectively.
“These figures signify that 80% of the students who sat during each of the said years obtained the minimum requirement of at least two principal passes for admission to university,†Kakooza said.
However, it is believed Caltec’s fame was derived from repeaters who missed joining university by only a few points.
However, one of the teachers says: “But with the introduction of private sponsorship at Makerere and the opening of many private universities, most senior six students no longer find it necessary to repeat. So the kind of students admitted these days are not repeaters who were target readers,†said one of the teachers.
Ends