Kabojja SS could have managed the crisis better
Sep 16, 2007
That Kabojja Secondary School closed its doors to over 600 students is a sad sign on private education in Uganda. And the manner in which it was done was even worse.
BY JANE GITAU
That Kabojja Secondary School closed its doors to over 600 students is a sad sign on private education in Uganda. And the manner in which it was done was even worse.
It came soon after celebrating the tenth anniversary of the school in June. Amid the pomp and splendour, no one could have guessed that this was both a celebration and a farewell. The only sign of trouble at the school was the August 10 end-of-UNEB term circular, which highlighted increasing difficulty especially in running the Cambridge Learning System. It said they were revising the system and as such, some students had not been given bank slips so they could not pay fees.
“The board and the management are still discussing a new policy matter in respect of the proposed new fees structure for the Cambridge Year 10 effective next term. This is on the basis of the fact that it is increasingly becoming economically untenable on our part to continue running the programme on the basis of the old fees structure in place. This is true for all Cambridge classes across board. So up until the time the board and management finalise their decision on the new fees structures, the intending Cambridge Year 10 learners will not take home their fees bank slips for next term. We will, however, promptly inform our affected parents when the final decision on the new fees structure has been made. Please accept our sincerest apologies for this delay.â€
That communication came as an advertisement in The New Vision last Friday, two days before the return of the Cambridge School students who had been home for their six week holiday. And it told of upgrading the school to university, rather than the expected increase in school fees beginning next year. That was strange for a school that had an open door policy with parents and guardians.
And then the next shocker. Kabojja runs two educational systems – the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) whose candidates write exams in October/November and the Cambridge whose candidates write exams in May/June.
While there was provision in the set-up for UNEB candidates to write their exams, there was none for the more than 100 on the Cambridge system. In the crisis, it seemed there was no thinking through beyond December, yet the Cambridge year begins in September and ends in June.
I am sad to see Kabojja go this way. It was one of those rare schools where teachers will even share dining hall meals with students.
When I went for the first visiting day after my child joined the school, I was given a breakdown of his favourite meals by a teacher. I was in shock. The class teacher told me about his extra curricula activities and each subject teacher knew exactly what weakness the child had in each subject. It was never a blanket ‘can do better’, it was always exact to a point where even in private the child admitted that the teacher was right. I felt safe with my child there. His outlook on life widened. I felt there was real education not cram work going on in that school.
The closure did not have to be this traumatic. Every business has challenges and as such, it is always prudent to have a crisis management plan. The school could have been gradually phased out to give way to the university. Parents could have been given more adequate information to facilitate transfer of children to other schools. Alternately, the school could have arranged with other schools to give their students a soft landing. Few schools offer the Cambridge system and of these fewer still are boarding schools. That leaves parents with very few options, especially if they are out of the country.
The new plan affects even the UNEB school parents and students because even though candidates have an opportunity to write exams, there are students in all other classes including Senior One. Was it prudent at all to admit new students this year? How will proper learning be effected between now and December, with teachers thoroughly de-motivated and seeking jobs elsewhere? It seems that even they, to a large extent, were unaware of what was coming.
Uganda has established itself as a regional hub for education. Parents from Kenya, (seeking an ‘A’ level education for their children), Tanzania and Rwanda (seeking the Anglophone and ‘A’ level system) have felt very comfortable putting their children in the bus and sending them to school in Uganda. Indeed, one only needs to take a casual look at bus stations every end and beginning of the school term to see how many extra buses all the inter-regional bus companies add to the road network. I believe that if properly managed, education would earn Uganda a competitive edge in the East African federation.
This means that the stakeholders are many and regulators need to take a keener interest in the affairs of schools.
Shutting down schools should not be at the prerogative of individuals even if they ‘own’ the schools. There should be as rigorous a process as is currently enforced in the issuing of a charter to a private university. This will build confidence in the system so parents do not have to sit on edge wondering which school is closing next.
The writer is a parent of a former student of Kabojja SS
That Kabojja Secondary School closed its doors to over 600 students is a sad sign on private education in Uganda. And the manner in which it was done was even worse.
It came soon after celebrating the tenth anniversary of the school in June. Amid the pomp and splendour, no one could have guessed that this was both a celebration and a farewell. The only sign of trouble at the school was the August 10 end-of-UNEB term circular, which highlighted increasing difficulty especially in running the Cambridge Learning System. It said they were revising the system and as such, some students had not been given bank slips so they could not pay fees.
“The board and the management are still discussing a new policy matter in respect of the proposed new fees structure for the Cambridge Year 10 effective next term. This is on the basis of the fact that it is increasingly becoming economically untenable on our part to continue running the programme on the basis of the old fees structure in place. This is true for all Cambridge classes across board. So up until the time the board and management finalise their decision on the new fees structures, the intending Cambridge Year 10 learners will not take home their fees bank slips for next term. We will, however, promptly inform our affected parents when the final decision on the new fees structure has been made. Please accept our sincerest apologies for this delay.â€
That communication came as an advertisement in The New Vision last Friday, two days before the return of the Cambridge School students who had been home for their six week holiday. And it told of upgrading the school to university, rather than the expected increase in school fees beginning next year. That was strange for a school that had an open door policy with parents and guardians.
And then the next shocker. Kabojja runs two educational systems – the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) whose candidates write exams in October/November and the Cambridge whose candidates write exams in May/June.
While there was provision in the set-up for UNEB candidates to write their exams, there was none for the more than 100 on the Cambridge system. In the crisis, it seemed there was no thinking through beyond December, yet the Cambridge year begins in September and ends in June.
I am sad to see Kabojja go this way. It was one of those rare schools where teachers will even share dining hall meals with students.
When I went for the first visiting day after my child joined the school, I was given a breakdown of his favourite meals by a teacher. I was in shock. The class teacher told me about his extra curricula activities and each subject teacher knew exactly what weakness the child had in each subject. It was never a blanket ‘can do better’, it was always exact to a point where even in private the child admitted that the teacher was right. I felt safe with my child there. His outlook on life widened. I felt there was real education not cram work going on in that school.
The closure did not have to be this traumatic. Every business has challenges and as such, it is always prudent to have a crisis management plan. The school could have been gradually phased out to give way to the university. Parents could have been given more adequate information to facilitate transfer of children to other schools. Alternately, the school could have arranged with other schools to give their students a soft landing. Few schools offer the Cambridge system and of these fewer still are boarding schools. That leaves parents with very few options, especially if they are out of the country.
The new plan affects even the UNEB school parents and students because even though candidates have an opportunity to write exams, there are students in all other classes including Senior One. Was it prudent at all to admit new students this year? How will proper learning be effected between now and December, with teachers thoroughly de-motivated and seeking jobs elsewhere? It seems that even they, to a large extent, were unaware of what was coming.
Uganda has established itself as a regional hub for education. Parents from Kenya, (seeking an ‘A’ level education for their children), Tanzania and Rwanda (seeking the Anglophone and ‘A’ level system) have felt very comfortable putting their children in the bus and sending them to school in Uganda. Indeed, one only needs to take a casual look at bus stations every end and beginning of the school term to see how many extra buses all the inter-regional bus companies add to the road network. I believe that if properly managed, education would earn Uganda a competitive edge in the East African federation.
This means that the stakeholders are many and regulators need to take a keener interest in the affairs of schools.
Shutting down schools should not be at the prerogative of individuals even if they ‘own’ the schools. There should be as rigorous a process as is currently enforced in the issuing of a charter to a private university. This will build confidence in the system so parents do not have to sit on edge wondering which school is closing next.
The writer is a parent of a former student of Kabojja SS