Kabazzi skipped P6 and topped PLE

Feb 25, 2002

A humble boy, who sold jack fruit for fees, Emmanuel was the best candidate at Mugwanya Preparatory School, Kabojja

EMMANUEL Kabazzi, a former pupil of Mugwanya Preparatory school, Kabojja, had a rare show of academic excellence. A humble boy from a poor family, Kabazzi skipped P6 to join P7.His teachers gave him examination papers for P7 while he was in P6 first term, and he scored an aggregate of four.They talked to his mother about the possibility of him going straight to P7.Kabazzi’s peasant mother, Joan Namatovu, who sells sweet bananas for a living in Wankulukuku, Kabowa, did not say no.Come the release of last year’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), Kabazzi, whose father died while he was in P1, emerged best in his school. All the 87 candidates passed in division one.This boy is now eyeing St. Mary’s College Kisubi, where he wants to pursue studies that will perhaps see him realising his dream of becoming a medical doctor. The 13-year-old boy is excited about his results, but his warm smile fades at the reality that he may not be in position to meet his dream.“I wish I could join St. Mary’s College, Kisubi, but I don’t have school fees. So I need help. My mother is a poor, hard working woman but her sweet banana business cannot keep us in school,” Kabazzi says. “My elder brother dropped out of school because of lack of school fees,” he reveals. “At Kabojja, many parents came in to help me because of my good performance. They would sympathise with me and give me money.I would also sell jack fruit, the money from which I would give to my mother as a contribution towards my school fees,” he adds.His sister, Vivian Nabichu, was the best in Rakai district in the 2000 PLE. She scored an aggregate of five. Right now, she is at Trinity College, Nabbingo, where she is leading her class.Kabazzi joined Kabojja in 1998 in P3 and it was only in first term that he scored an aggregate of eight. From second term to the time of his PLE, his report card has a record of aggregate four.Even his school realised his school fees problem and paid his fees for P7. As fellow pupils received their PLE certificates at a ceremony at the school last week, Kabazzi got a certificate of merit from the school, in addition the PLE one. The Oxford University Press also awarded him an Advanced Learners Dictionary in recognition of his academic excellence.Immaculate Kabonesa, a teacher at the school described Kabazzi as a genius. “He has been doing well in class, especially in Mathematics. In fact, at the beginning, almost the entire P.7 class had isolated him because he was challenging them. “But they realised he could be helpful them in the long run and came back to him,” Kabonesa discloses.She says that Kabazzi’s mother hardly visited him during his year in P7. “You could see him seated alone in class reading his books, on the visitation days, as the colleagues were busy enjoying outside with their parents. “We’re only worried about his secondary school education. I know his family is too poor to raise the fees,” she says. It would be a pity if such a brilliant boy failed to realise his dream just because he is poor.

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