At 116 years, Mengo defies age to excel
AS well as having its name etched in the annals of Uganda’s educational history, Mengo Senior School continues to be a shining star and a proven academic power house. The oldest school in the country celebrated 116 years of existence on Saturday.
AS well as having its name etched in the annals of Uganda’s educational history, Mengo Senior School continues to be a shining star and a proven academic power house. The oldest school in the country celebrated 116 years of existence on Saturday.
A walk around the spacious and lush school compound gives one a feeling of peace and harmony. From the main gate to the eastern gate, all is covered in green with old trees on which cut jerrycans are hang mainly to avoid littering the compound.
In the compound is a monument of a boy and a girl holding books in their hands. The old buildings, which have been given a new coating, have retained their colonial roofing style.
The well maintained Sempa Hall (nicknamed Jaja Mengo), built in 1910 and named after one of its former headteachers, the Rev. Y B Sempa (1929-1967), is the oldest building in the school. It has been chosen to house the modern Internet centre.
Mengo is historically one of the famous schools with strong general technical education, which includes subjects like wood work, clothing and textile, food and nutrition, power and energy and technical drawing.
Currently, the school is constructing a four-storey complex to house the A’level classrooms.
The mixed day school has 3,737 students, 118 teachers, 28 non teaching staff and 31 support staff.
One of the ways the school has managed such a big number is by allocating four deputy head-teachers.
It is divided into three sections, each headed by a dean and the dean assisted by year heads, who manage 450 to 500 students each.
The school has five streams for each class to accommodate the high number of students.
The school was the best day school in Kampala and best government-aided school in the country in the Uganda Certificate of Education examinations last year. In A’level, it got 241 As, 467 Bs and 511 Cs.
The founding of the school dates back to the early days of the missionaries in Uganda. In their effort to preach the Word of God and win the souls of Ugandans, they soon discovered that formal education was one of the strategic baits to convert the people from their “heathen waysâ€.
Thus in 1895, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded an elementary mixed school (Kayanja) at Mengo, the then capital of Uganda.
The first building of the school was situated in the space between the present (Namirembe) Mengo Primary School building and the Namirembe Cathedral. Its walls were made of reeds, while the roof was made of grass.
The school has changed from an elementary school, a boys’ junior school, a senior boys’ school to a mixed 0’ and A’ level school.
Having started as an institution for training chiefs’ sons and cadres for the fledgling colonial establishment, Mengo is now home to the children of the urban poor who cannot afford boarding fees.
One of the founder teachers was a missionary called Miss Chadwick who started by inviting young men into her house. These were mostly houseboys of missionaries on Namirembe Hill. Initially, they came into her house every afternoon for prayers.
She then requested them to visit the chiefs and ask them to send their children to school. Due to the nature of their work, these young men came to be known as Basizi (sowers). The newcomers would be taught by the Basizi, while Miss Chadwick taught the Basizi.
In 1901, Mr. Charles William Hattersley took over the work of teaching the Basizi. As the number grew, it became necessary to house them in a boarding school. The then Katikkiro, Sir Apollo Kaggwa, gave them his house on Namirembe Hill where they stayed for some years.
Most of the first students who enrolled in Mengo (Kayanja) were later posted by Church Councils to rural areas as school masters. Many others became clerks of chiefs. Many big chiefs also attended classes in this school.
Although Mengo was a mixed school, it was very difficult to bring girls to school as they were looked upon as slaves.
After a lot of discussion, it was resolved to separate the girls from the boys, hence a girls’ school was started at Gayaza. Initially education was free.
As the school advanced, the senior classes were required to pay 50 cents per week and the girls, £2 per year. But the parents were unwilling to pay this money for the girls as they thought it was a wastage.
In June, 1904, the CMS held a conference in which it was resolved to build two new schools: one at Namirembe Hill and another at Budo. The mission was to produce men fit to serve God in Church and State.
By the end of 1904, four brick houses later, a school house and a fence, the school had become a boarding school and was named Mengo High School. The subjects taught were writing, arithmetic, geography and elementary science.
The formal opening of this school was performed by His Majesty’s acting commissioner, Mr. George Wilson. C.B. on January 25, 1905. The opening of Mengo High school did not mean the closure of the original school. Rev. C.H.T. Ecob took over the superintendency of the old school (Kayanja), while Hattersley devoted his energies to the new school. At that time the school had a capacity of 40-50 boys.
That is in stark contrast with a student population of over 3,000 today from across the country and beyond. From inception, the school has passed through the stewardship of over 10 carefully chosen headteachers that have kept its flag flying at full mast.
The current headteacher, George William Ssemivule, says the celebration was worth considering the ups and downs the school has gone through since its establishment in 1895. The celebration was marked with fanfare with many of the living old students being awarded for their distinguished service to the school and the nation.
A walk around the spacious and lush school compound gives one a feeling of peace and harmony. From the main gate to the eastern gate, all is covered in green with old trees on which cut jerrycans are hang mainly to avoid littering the compound.
In the compound is a monument of a boy and a girl holding books in their hands. The old buildings, which have been given a new coating, have retained their colonial roofing style.
The well maintained Sempa Hall (nicknamed Jaja Mengo), built in 1910 and named after one of its former headteachers, the Rev. Y B Sempa (1929-1967), is the oldest building in the school. It has been chosen to house the modern Internet centre.
Mengo is historically one of the famous schools with strong general technical education, which includes subjects like wood work, clothing and textile, food and nutrition, power and energy and technical drawing.
Currently, the school is constructing a four-storey complex to house the A’level classrooms.
The mixed day school has 3,737 students, 118 teachers, 28 non teaching staff and 31 support staff.
One of the ways the school has managed such a big number is by allocating four deputy head-teachers.
It is divided into three sections, each headed by a dean and the dean assisted by year heads, who manage 450 to 500 students each.
The school has five streams for each class to accommodate the high number of students.
The school was the best day school in Kampala and best government-aided school in the country in the Uganda Certificate of Education examinations last year. In A’level, it got 241 As, 467 Bs and 511 Cs.
The founding of the school dates back to the early days of the missionaries in Uganda. In their effort to preach the Word of God and win the souls of Ugandans, they soon discovered that formal education was one of the strategic baits to convert the people from their “heathen waysâ€.
Thus in 1895, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded an elementary mixed school (Kayanja) at Mengo, the then capital of Uganda.
The first building of the school was situated in the space between the present (Namirembe) Mengo Primary School building and the Namirembe Cathedral. Its walls were made of reeds, while the roof was made of grass.
The school has changed from an elementary school, a boys’ junior school, a senior boys’ school to a mixed 0’ and A’ level school.
Having started as an institution for training chiefs’ sons and cadres for the fledgling colonial establishment, Mengo is now home to the children of the urban poor who cannot afford boarding fees.
One of the founder teachers was a missionary called Miss Chadwick who started by inviting young men into her house. These were mostly houseboys of missionaries on Namirembe Hill. Initially, they came into her house every afternoon for prayers.
She then requested them to visit the chiefs and ask them to send their children to school. Due to the nature of their work, these young men came to be known as Basizi (sowers). The newcomers would be taught by the Basizi, while Miss Chadwick taught the Basizi.
In 1901, Mr. Charles William Hattersley took over the work of teaching the Basizi. As the number grew, it became necessary to house them in a boarding school. The then Katikkiro, Sir Apollo Kaggwa, gave them his house on Namirembe Hill where they stayed for some years.
Most of the first students who enrolled in Mengo (Kayanja) were later posted by Church Councils to rural areas as school masters. Many others became clerks of chiefs. Many big chiefs also attended classes in this school.
Although Mengo was a mixed school, it was very difficult to bring girls to school as they were looked upon as slaves.
After a lot of discussion, it was resolved to separate the girls from the boys, hence a girls’ school was started at Gayaza. Initially education was free.
As the school advanced, the senior classes were required to pay 50 cents per week and the girls, £2 per year. But the parents were unwilling to pay this money for the girls as they thought it was a wastage.
In June, 1904, the CMS held a conference in which it was resolved to build two new schools: one at Namirembe Hill and another at Budo. The mission was to produce men fit to serve God in Church and State.
By the end of 1904, four brick houses later, a school house and a fence, the school had become a boarding school and was named Mengo High School. The subjects taught were writing, arithmetic, geography and elementary science.
The formal opening of this school was performed by His Majesty’s acting commissioner, Mr. George Wilson. C.B. on January 25, 1905. The opening of Mengo High school did not mean the closure of the original school. Rev. C.H.T. Ecob took over the superintendency of the old school (Kayanja), while Hattersley devoted his energies to the new school. At that time the school had a capacity of 40-50 boys.
That is in stark contrast with a student population of over 3,000 today from across the country and beyond. From inception, the school has passed through the stewardship of over 10 carefully chosen headteachers that have kept its flag flying at full mast.
The current headteacher, George William Ssemivule, says the celebration was worth considering the ups and downs the school has gone through since its establishment in 1895. The celebration was marked with fanfare with many of the living old students being awarded for their distinguished service to the school and the nation.