Govt must address the education imbalance
May 05, 2009
ON April 24, 2009 I travelled to Kasese district. Our destination was Kuruhe High School, Kitswamba sub-county in Busongara county. And there, the foundation for Kuruhe's future through education was laid.
By Dr Chrizestom Muyingo
ON April 24, 2009 I travelled to Kasese district. Our destination was Kuruhe High School, Kitswamba sub-county in Busongara county. Together with the staff of Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo, we went to the foot of Mt. Rwenzori on an education promotion mission.
On May 11, 2006 I received a letter from the headmaster of Kuruhe High School, Alphonse Baluku Piiri, requesting for a twinning programme between his school and Namugongo. Kuruhe was founded by the late Bishop Serapio Magambo of the then Fort Portal Diocese. In 1989 Kasese diocese inherited the school when it was curved out of Fort Portal diocese.
After numerous exchanges of staff, students and education materials, we visited the school to attend a careers’ day. We got a heroic reception, with a guard of honour by smartly dressed scouts. The structures at Kuruhe High are good, mostly constructed with funds from the Belgian Technical Cooperation and Austria’s Horizont 3000.
However, listening to the headmaster’s speech I realised that the buildings were deceptive. On average, Piiri said, Kasese district qualifies two science teachers annually compared to the 60 secondary schools in the district. Using his school as a case in point, he said seven graduate teachers have been posted since the beginning of the year and they all left. “The one who has served here longest, Muhumuza, stayed for three weeks,†Piiri elaborated. There was muted laughter from my delegation. We were astounded.
“They come here and look at my office, surroundings and (examine) the poverty of the parents and they disappear,†explains the headmaster. Piiri is a determined man. You feel no tinge of emotion in his voice as he rolls off his tongue, awful statistics. I called him a true patriot in my speech.
The consequence of this is that Kuruhe High and many schools in the district have found it difficult to start a science class at ‘A’ (advanced) level, sustain it and score ace grades. The same bleak picture, I am sure, is replicated in most rural schools in the country. And they, too, compete to join the same public universities basing on one scale.
“If you could sacrifice every holiday two weeks and send us science teachers, we shall gather all students doing sciences, regardless of religion, at the seminary, and collect funds to maintain the teachers,†Piiri implored. “If these students are trained, we can get more doctors, engineers and science teachers in the district,†he enthused.
In Piiri, I saw a man trying to get the best out of an almost impossible situation. A tale of squeezing water out of rock! The tragedy of Kuruhe or Kasese district’s reality is that admission to public universities on government scholarships is science-biased as a policy these days. And this is the area in which they are in deficit or trailing.
How soon will this imbalance be solved? The Government and the education ministry should answer sooner because later, the graduates’ distribution map will be skewed.
Although Kuruhe is church founded, my stance has always been that, the Government owes responsibility of access to quality education to all students in this country. Private education institutions’ founders should never be perceived to be competitors like some regimes deemed them to be. They need to be complemented and supported with grants and donations of scholastic materials, beginning with the rustic areas. There are intelligent heads down there as I will illustrate.
At Kuruhe High, the school fees is sh140,000 for boarding section and sh56,000 for day scholars. But still the parents pay grudgingly. Why? Poverty.
In our twinning programme we accepted five students from Kuruhe High to do their ‘A’ Level from Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo and benefit from the facilities the school has. For the sake of partnership, we even lowered the stiff pass-mark for; Sulait Bwambale, Jackson Ndairiho, Masereka Kazooba, Ronald Birungi Bwambale, and Biira Veronica to join the martyrs land for their ‘A’ level. Of the five, three; Bwambale got (24 points), Ndairiho got (19 points) and Biira got (23 points) passed highly UACE final exams last year and are joining university to study medicine. After five years they will be doctors for Kasese to look up to. They will join the league of their constituency MP and defence minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga.
Giving this good news, the Kuruhe head teacher narrated the ordeal he had to endure after Namugongo made the offer to the five students.
The fees structure at Namugongo is sh600,000 and most parents are of the corporate class. When Piiri went to the parents of the benefiting students to inform them, one said “I have sh90,000, if you have the balance, take him.†The other was more frank and subtle, “I have given you only the child, do not expect any money from me.â€
In the end, Namugongo had to grant scholarships to these students in order to light a candle whose fire will light many more others. We learnt also that the twinning programme has publicised Kuruhe immensely.
The enrolment which stood at 400 before now stands at 708. In Kuruhe, Namugongo is now mirrored. Nonetheless low fees dictated by the poverty levels, mean that the school cannot meet its operational costs. “Our teachers are not motivated. They are always complaining. Yes, I know I have not paid them but where do I get the money?†Piiri lamented in his speech. It is a cyclic circle of poverty.
Yet this is a region with the flora and fauna-rich Queen Elizabeth National Park, imposing glacial Mt Rwenzori, lakes Edward and George, to which tourists are attracted as bees to honey. You have guessed right, they come along with dollars.
If the residents do not get consolation in the smooth tarmac that cuts through their district from Fort Portal, I suppose it will not be long before frustration and cynicism crops in. For an area whose MP is the Minister of Defence, Piiri made a comment that I imagined reflected the sentiments: “We (I guess Bakonjo) are not in government because government hates us. We are not learned.â€
One more point: I asked why church-founded schools in the district have no patron saints attached to their names. The answer was that one of the past regimes made it conditional in allowing the church to found educational institutions in the area. Now that the repressive regimes are behind us, Piiri said, I will ask the Board of Governors to rename Kuruhe after, Saint John to honour your modest contribution. I was humbled.
I suggested the school should take on “Uganda Martyrs†as patron saints. This, I added would be a vehicle to our destination of turning Kuruhe into the Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo of Kasese district. I am aware it will not be easy, but the first bricks in the foundation have been laid. Even after making a donation of a computer, a photocopier, we were informed Kitswamba is not serviced with electricity to run them. Such are the disparities.
The writer is the headmaster of Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo and an educationist and consultant.
ON April 24, 2009 I travelled to Kasese district. Our destination was Kuruhe High School, Kitswamba sub-county in Busongara county. Together with the staff of Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo, we went to the foot of Mt. Rwenzori on an education promotion mission.
On May 11, 2006 I received a letter from the headmaster of Kuruhe High School, Alphonse Baluku Piiri, requesting for a twinning programme between his school and Namugongo. Kuruhe was founded by the late Bishop Serapio Magambo of the then Fort Portal Diocese. In 1989 Kasese diocese inherited the school when it was curved out of Fort Portal diocese.
After numerous exchanges of staff, students and education materials, we visited the school to attend a careers’ day. We got a heroic reception, with a guard of honour by smartly dressed scouts. The structures at Kuruhe High are good, mostly constructed with funds from the Belgian Technical Cooperation and Austria’s Horizont 3000.
However, listening to the headmaster’s speech I realised that the buildings were deceptive. On average, Piiri said, Kasese district qualifies two science teachers annually compared to the 60 secondary schools in the district. Using his school as a case in point, he said seven graduate teachers have been posted since the beginning of the year and they all left. “The one who has served here longest, Muhumuza, stayed for three weeks,†Piiri elaborated. There was muted laughter from my delegation. We were astounded.
“They come here and look at my office, surroundings and (examine) the poverty of the parents and they disappear,†explains the headmaster. Piiri is a determined man. You feel no tinge of emotion in his voice as he rolls off his tongue, awful statistics. I called him a true patriot in my speech.
The consequence of this is that Kuruhe High and many schools in the district have found it difficult to start a science class at ‘A’ (advanced) level, sustain it and score ace grades. The same bleak picture, I am sure, is replicated in most rural schools in the country. And they, too, compete to join the same public universities basing on one scale.
“If you could sacrifice every holiday two weeks and send us science teachers, we shall gather all students doing sciences, regardless of religion, at the seminary, and collect funds to maintain the teachers,†Piiri implored. “If these students are trained, we can get more doctors, engineers and science teachers in the district,†he enthused.
In Piiri, I saw a man trying to get the best out of an almost impossible situation. A tale of squeezing water out of rock! The tragedy of Kuruhe or Kasese district’s reality is that admission to public universities on government scholarships is science-biased as a policy these days. And this is the area in which they are in deficit or trailing.
How soon will this imbalance be solved? The Government and the education ministry should answer sooner because later, the graduates’ distribution map will be skewed.
Although Kuruhe is church founded, my stance has always been that, the Government owes responsibility of access to quality education to all students in this country. Private education institutions’ founders should never be perceived to be competitors like some regimes deemed them to be. They need to be complemented and supported with grants and donations of scholastic materials, beginning with the rustic areas. There are intelligent heads down there as I will illustrate.
At Kuruhe High, the school fees is sh140,000 for boarding section and sh56,000 for day scholars. But still the parents pay grudgingly. Why? Poverty.
In our twinning programme we accepted five students from Kuruhe High to do their ‘A’ Level from Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo and benefit from the facilities the school has. For the sake of partnership, we even lowered the stiff pass-mark for; Sulait Bwambale, Jackson Ndairiho, Masereka Kazooba, Ronald Birungi Bwambale, and Biira Veronica to join the martyrs land for their ‘A’ level. Of the five, three; Bwambale got (24 points), Ndairiho got (19 points) and Biira got (23 points) passed highly UACE final exams last year and are joining university to study medicine. After five years they will be doctors for Kasese to look up to. They will join the league of their constituency MP and defence minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga.
Giving this good news, the Kuruhe head teacher narrated the ordeal he had to endure after Namugongo made the offer to the five students.
The fees structure at Namugongo is sh600,000 and most parents are of the corporate class. When Piiri went to the parents of the benefiting students to inform them, one said “I have sh90,000, if you have the balance, take him.†The other was more frank and subtle, “I have given you only the child, do not expect any money from me.â€
In the end, Namugongo had to grant scholarships to these students in order to light a candle whose fire will light many more others. We learnt also that the twinning programme has publicised Kuruhe immensely.
The enrolment which stood at 400 before now stands at 708. In Kuruhe, Namugongo is now mirrored. Nonetheless low fees dictated by the poverty levels, mean that the school cannot meet its operational costs. “Our teachers are not motivated. They are always complaining. Yes, I know I have not paid them but where do I get the money?†Piiri lamented in his speech. It is a cyclic circle of poverty.
Yet this is a region with the flora and fauna-rich Queen Elizabeth National Park, imposing glacial Mt Rwenzori, lakes Edward and George, to which tourists are attracted as bees to honey. You have guessed right, they come along with dollars.
If the residents do not get consolation in the smooth tarmac that cuts through their district from Fort Portal, I suppose it will not be long before frustration and cynicism crops in. For an area whose MP is the Minister of Defence, Piiri made a comment that I imagined reflected the sentiments: “We (I guess Bakonjo) are not in government because government hates us. We are not learned.â€
One more point: I asked why church-founded schools in the district have no patron saints attached to their names. The answer was that one of the past regimes made it conditional in allowing the church to found educational institutions in the area. Now that the repressive regimes are behind us, Piiri said, I will ask the Board of Governors to rename Kuruhe after, Saint John to honour your modest contribution. I was humbled.
I suggested the school should take on “Uganda Martyrs†as patron saints. This, I added would be a vehicle to our destination of turning Kuruhe into the Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo of Kasese district. I am aware it will not be easy, but the first bricks in the foundation have been laid. Even after making a donation of a computer, a photocopier, we were informed Kitswamba is not serviced with electricity to run them. Such are the disparities.
The writer is the headmaster of Uganda Martyrs S.S Namugongo and an educationist and consultant.