Tree school finds its feet

By Catherine NtabaddeIT is the only secondary school in a village of thousands of people. Before its inception, children used to walk miles in search of secondary education.From tree classrooms with six students, Buwagga Secondary School, located in Buwagga Village, Busukuma Sub County, Wakiso District, now boasts of buildings with cemented floors and iron roofs. It has over 200 boarding and day students.Despite of it being in a remote area without electricity, the director of the school Sendi Kayondo has managed to install solar energy for the benefit of boarding students.On July 27, the school, which started in 1995, held its second open day where the students participated in athletics, volley ball, netball, football, music, dance and drama, Science exhibition activities. Uganda house emerged overall winner with 606, followed by Canada, 540 and Sweden, 511. The school’s director of studies Rose Boogeza told Education Vision that Buwagga SS started as a community school. From under trees it moved to Buwagga Church, then rented rooms at Kijuddue PS.Boogeza says Kayondo took over the school in 1995, after it had failed to improve.“This area was very bushy. When the director took over the school, be built classrooms, dormitories for girls and boys and teachers’ houses,” she said.The school has a teaching staff of 18 headed by Emmanuel Ntaganda, the headteacher.Though the school’s performance was not good in the first years of its inspection, the standards have, however, since improved, according to Boogeza. “We started with a boarding section. In 2000, 21 students sat for their exams, 10 of them passed with second grades and the rest in third grade. In 2001, we registered five first grades, eight in second and the rest passed in third grade out of 25 students,” she added.Buwagga SS has a UNEB centre for ‘O’ level. Kayondo said they have introduced the ‘A’ level section this year.The director says taking over the school was not easy. “One has to be committed. I felt it was wise to help our community children study within their area other than walking long distances. The school is still incomplete but we intend to finish it slowly by slowly,” he says.With increasing emphasis on Information Technology, Kayondo found it wise to introduce computer science at the school. “Since we do not have electricity, our computer lab is in Bukemba village, two miles away from school,” the soft-spoken Kayondo explains.The headteacher, Ntaganda said apart from classwork, the school encourages practical skills and extra-curricular activities.“We train children with skills that will enable them cope with society. We develop an all round child,” he said.Food is not a problem here. The school farm provides enough food for both day and boarding students. “Money for lunch for day scholars is taken care of under the fees structure,” she says. The Open day was well attended especially by the community, which Boogeza said is supportive.