Masaba SS saying goodbye to 30 years of darkness
Sep 14, 2011
AN early morning mist blurs the vicinity of the school lying just below Mt. Elgon Forest, 30km from Mbale town.
By Frederick Womakuyu
AN early morning mist blurs the vicinity of the school lying just below Mt. Elgon Forest, 30km from Mbale town.
Carrying their suitcases firmly on their heads, the students stream into the school compound and head to a nearby tent to register. It is the beginning of term. A glance at the noticeboard seems to suggest Masaba is on the way to recovery.
At least 20 of the 222 candidates who sat for their O’ level in 2010 passed in Division One, compared to 11 in 2009. The administration block as well as the dining hall have been renovated and restocked with new furniture. A new storeyed building with over nine classrooms has also been constructed.
In the compound, non-teaching staff are planting trees and slashing the grass. A fence is being constructed around the school to keep intruders at bay and students from escaping.
Founded in 1953 by the Mbale district local government, the school was built because some Bagisu students had been expelled from Nabumali High School by the Christian founders for escaping from school to go for circumcision. The Bamasaba elders, who revered the circumcision ritual, opted to set up a school that would accommodate their culture.
The remarkable brisk strides
Within 10 years, the school had become a giant. In 1964, all its 43 candidates passed to join Makerere University.
Wilson Kadoli, an economics teacher and an old student, remembers the school as an ‘academic library’. “We had no failures — the school admitted only students who had passed in first grade and we had good teachers,†he says.
At that time, the library was well-stocked with each student entitled the number of books they required. The classes were small and the level of discipline was high.
A slip into chaotic era
“Between 1980 and 2002, the school slipped into academic oblivion. It often registered less than five students in first grade in Senior Four and it last sent a student to university on Government sponsorship in 1991,†says Moses Wozemba, the director of studies.
Isaac Napokholi, a language teacher at Masaba, says the school began declining in 1979 during the war to topple Idi Amin.
Napokholi explains that after the war, the the welfare and security of students was poor. Students often went to bed hungry while others were kidnapped and killed by Idi Amin’s soldiers.
“There was virtually no learning. Many parents withdrew their children from the school,†he adds.
An average of less than three students out of 70 often passed in the first grade in S4 and less than five went to university.
Charles Buyi, a history and religious education teacher, who has been in Masaba for over 23 years, says at one time the school was run by students.
“The chairman of the students’ council ran the school between 1997 and 1999,†he adds.
By 2003, the number of teacher had shrank from 50 to 30 and that of students declined from 1,200 to 270.
In 1995, the students staged a strike protesting lack of food and water. Another strike followed in 2003.
Drastic changes
In order to increase the population, Masaba, once a boys’ school was turned into a mixed school. The school sank into a state of indiscipline. Some students turned into drunkards and often left school without permission.
The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) collapsed and the school did not have money to renovate dilapidated buildings, pay support staff or even buy food or pay electricity and water bills.
Road to recovery
This kind of anarchy continued until 2007, when Ignatius Iisat, a former Jinja College School head teacher, took over the reign of Masaba Secondary School.
He revived all the committees of the school, including the disciplinary committee to bring teachers and students to order. He involved students and teachers in the decision-making process.
“The school was heavily indebted to the tune of over sh200m, but Iisat cleared the debt and embarked on restoring academic glory,†says Moses Wozemba, the director of studies.
Iisat re-introduced the PTA allowance that had been scrapped and started paying each teacher on duty sh5,000 every week for motivation. He also increased the number of students to over 1,200 and teachers from 20 to 45.
Besides teachers’ motivation allowance, Iisat says that there is also a daily food ration for teachers, to supplement their salaries.
The teachers and the students are also rewarded for good grades and a bursary scheme for the best students is in the offing.
Games, sports and extra-curricular activities like music, dance and drama have been revived. Iisat also introduced seminars where students get a chance to visit other schools for social and academic purposes.
Iisat approached the Ministry of Education to renovate the school and it became the first beneficiary of the African Development Bank loan that has constructed new classrooms, laboratories, dining hall, administration block, and library. The school also received about 5,000 books under the same project.
This paid off when last year, 20 students out of 220 passed in first grade in Senior Four compared to only 11 in 2009.
Innovations
The school has started a tree-planting project and is setting up a dairy and crop farm to make the school self-sustainable.
The challenge now is on how to sustain what they have built, because the school, like many others, relies only on fees which is less than sh200,000 per student.
Iisat also calls upon the old students of the school and companies to come in and help rehabilitate the school as part of their corporate social responsibility.
AN early morning mist blurs the vicinity of the school lying just below Mt. Elgon Forest, 30km from Mbale town.
Carrying their suitcases firmly on their heads, the students stream into the school compound and head to a nearby tent to register. It is the beginning of term. A glance at the noticeboard seems to suggest Masaba is on the way to recovery.
At least 20 of the 222 candidates who sat for their O’ level in 2010 passed in Division One, compared to 11 in 2009. The administration block as well as the dining hall have been renovated and restocked with new furniture. A new storeyed building with over nine classrooms has also been constructed.
In the compound, non-teaching staff are planting trees and slashing the grass. A fence is being constructed around the school to keep intruders at bay and students from escaping.
Founded in 1953 by the Mbale district local government, the school was built because some Bagisu students had been expelled from Nabumali High School by the Christian founders for escaping from school to go for circumcision. The Bamasaba elders, who revered the circumcision ritual, opted to set up a school that would accommodate their culture.
The remarkable brisk strides
Within 10 years, the school had become a giant. In 1964, all its 43 candidates passed to join Makerere University.
Wilson Kadoli, an economics teacher and an old student, remembers the school as an ‘academic library’. “We had no failures — the school admitted only students who had passed in first grade and we had good teachers,†he says.
At that time, the library was well-stocked with each student entitled the number of books they required. The classes were small and the level of discipline was high.
A slip into chaotic era
“Between 1980 and 2002, the school slipped into academic oblivion. It often registered less than five students in first grade in Senior Four and it last sent a student to university on Government sponsorship in 1991,†says Moses Wozemba, the director of studies.
Isaac Napokholi, a language teacher at Masaba, says the school began declining in 1979 during the war to topple Idi Amin.
Napokholi explains that after the war, the the welfare and security of students was poor. Students often went to bed hungry while others were kidnapped and killed by Idi Amin’s soldiers.
“There was virtually no learning. Many parents withdrew their children from the school,†he adds.
An average of less than three students out of 70 often passed in the first grade in S4 and less than five went to university.
Charles Buyi, a history and religious education teacher, who has been in Masaba for over 23 years, says at one time the school was run by students.
“The chairman of the students’ council ran the school between 1997 and 1999,†he adds.
By 2003, the number of teacher had shrank from 50 to 30 and that of students declined from 1,200 to 270.
In 1995, the students staged a strike protesting lack of food and water. Another strike followed in 2003.
Drastic changes
In order to increase the population, Masaba, once a boys’ school was turned into a mixed school. The school sank into a state of indiscipline. Some students turned into drunkards and often left school without permission.
The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) collapsed and the school did not have money to renovate dilapidated buildings, pay support staff or even buy food or pay electricity and water bills.
Road to recovery
This kind of anarchy continued until 2007, when Ignatius Iisat, a former Jinja College School head teacher, took over the reign of Masaba Secondary School.
He revived all the committees of the school, including the disciplinary committee to bring teachers and students to order. He involved students and teachers in the decision-making process.
“The school was heavily indebted to the tune of over sh200m, but Iisat cleared the debt and embarked on restoring academic glory,†says Moses Wozemba, the director of studies.
Iisat re-introduced the PTA allowance that had been scrapped and started paying each teacher on duty sh5,000 every week for motivation. He also increased the number of students to over 1,200 and teachers from 20 to 45.
Besides teachers’ motivation allowance, Iisat says that there is also a daily food ration for teachers, to supplement their salaries.
The teachers and the students are also rewarded for good grades and a bursary scheme for the best students is in the offing.
Games, sports and extra-curricular activities like music, dance and drama have been revived. Iisat also introduced seminars where students get a chance to visit other schools for social and academic purposes.
Iisat approached the Ministry of Education to renovate the school and it became the first beneficiary of the African Development Bank loan that has constructed new classrooms, laboratories, dining hall, administration block, and library. The school also received about 5,000 books under the same project.
This paid off when last year, 20 students out of 220 passed in first grade in Senior Four compared to only 11 in 2009.
Innovations
The school has started a tree-planting project and is setting up a dairy and crop farm to make the school self-sustainable.
The challenge now is on how to sustain what they have built, because the school, like many others, relies only on fees which is less than sh200,000 per student.
Iisat also calls upon the old students of the school and companies to come in and help rehabilitate the school as part of their corporate social responsibility.