Selflessness drives him to serve his community
GODFREY Kaggwa is a teacher at St. Kizito Primary School in Nabitalo, Wakiso district. His decision to serve his community despite opportunities to work somewhere else has made him an endearing icon.
GODFREY Kaggwa is a teacher at St. Kizito Primary School in Nabitalo, Wakiso district. His decision to serve his community despite opportunities to work somewhere else has made him an endearing icon.
Winnie Nanteza brings you the story.
THE challenges of teaching in a community UPE school are a dreaded experience but carrying the burden of changing the community’s attitude towards education is another.
If it was not for the then head teacher; Leocardia Nalusiba beseeching that he becomes a teacher in his home community, Godfrey Kaggwa, a teacher in St. Kizito Primary School in Nabitalo Wakiso district, would never have helped residents of Nabitalo to embrace the beauty of educating children.
On this rather sun-drenched Tuesday as he settles down, he looks tired because he has spent the whole morning restless.
He was preparing the school for the anticipated visitors from Western Union, a financial organisation.
The whole school and the community have gathered in the school compound to express their gratitude to the officials from Western Union for having given a “life†to the frantic children in this school.
On that day, Western Union was launching a programme that aims at empowering individuals, families and communities through access to better education, improving sanitation, hygiene and ensuring food security to increase classroom attendance and performance.
Kaggwa who was as elated as the pupils, could not shed the smile from one side of his face. As I held out my hand for his, he muttered lightly, saying that: “Kati abaana bagenda kusooma bulungi†(loosely translated as now the pupils are going to study comfortably).
Kaggwa says before the project, pupils attended lessons on empty stomachs, especially after the Government placed a ban on making parents pay for their children’s meals at school.
“We are lucky everyone is feeding and this has boosted class attendance and performance in addition to my advice to them to consider educating their children,†he says.
Kaggwa says his experience of teaching in a UPE school is not a good one but the feeling of ‘giving back to the community’ gives him satisfaction.
“We lack materials like text books and other school stationery. However, I have bought for myself the books I need to teach my pupils and I also get other materials from my teacher friends from better schools,†he says.
Kaggwa says parents in the community used to take (some still do) education for granted.
He visited the family of the kid he did not see in class to talk to their parent to send him/her to school the following day.
“They think it is a luxury that they used not to buy school uniforms for their kids but now the Western Union has helped,†he says.
Kaggwa boasts of the fact that this attitude is continuously changing and many parents and children are appreciating his effort.
“They even look for me at home just to say ‘Thank You,†he says. He is also on the village water sanitation committee which is obliged to ensure that the locals get clean and safe water.
The group mobilises people to maintain the borehole and repair it when it is faulty. He is also the secretary of St. Steven Kiwenda Church of Uganda. Jane Frances Nannozi, Kaggwa’s head teacher, says due to Kaggwa’s hard work, pupils have been performing mathematics and science better than other subjects.
She says Kaggwa has always helped the boys solve their problems whenever they report to him.
“The school attendance is now better. He has done so much in linking and blending home with school. This has improved the pupils’ concentration which has improved performance,†Nannozi says
How he does it?
While teaching, Kaggwa finds some minutes to counsel the pupils about life.
“I know the young generation needs more than just academic knowledge. I counsel, guide, and discuss with them different aspects of life and their problems which are usually personal,†he says.
He is open with pupils, and tries to draw them closer so that they can confide in him. Whenever they have disagreements, they always run to him. His dedication is not limited to the pupils but the entire school.
Kaggwa’s biggest challenge is the failure by parents to check on the academic performance of their children.
Many parents do not attend the parents-teachers meeting called at school.
“We have tried to call them but we still get very low numbers. This is what I want to strategise on and change. I want them to follow up their children’s academics,†he says.
Who is Kagwa Godfrey
Kaggwa, the fourth born of eight children of the late Eliazi Kagwa and Kevina Nabukeera, is from a humble background.
His father was a village tailor and a coffee farmer. It is form these businesses that he raised the finances to feed and educate them.
He later joined Wampewo Ntakke Secondary School from where he completed his O’Level. He lost his mother after completing his O’Level in 1987 and his father in 2002.
He did not continue to A’ Level because his father could not afford to pay the fees.
But between 1979 and 1992 Kagwa worked at Namulonge Research Station as an office administrator in animal husbandry.
He started his teaching career in 1992 after Nalusiba pleaded with him to teach because the school lacked enough teachers at that time.
“She pleaded with me as a parent and helped me realise that I could actually give back to my community by teaching in this school,†he says.
“With time, I grew to love it. I realised I loved dealing with children than animals,†Kaggwa says.
Nalusiba paid his fees for the two years to attain a Grade III (1996) teaching course at Lutete Teachers College. She also covered the Grade V at Nkozi National Teachers College in 2005.
His elder brother, Fredrick Ssekitoleko, is also a teacher of Social Studies and English in the same school.
Kaggwa raises additional money from cultivating cassava, beans, maize, and sweet potatoes which he sells off.
Kaggwa has taught in this school for 18 years and hopes to retire from there.
First memory in class
I started teaching when I was 36 years old in 1992. For a 30-minute English lesson, I taught for only 15 minutes because I wasted the first 15minutes speechless.
There were 65 pupils in the class and I could not imagine what I was going to teach these kids without any experience. I even failed to open the Nile English Course textbook I held tightly in my left hand.
To my relief, the next teacher appeared at the door ten minutes earlier.
What others say about him
“Teachers are supposed to be at school by 7:30 but he is usually here way before 7:00am to get ready for the day. He is also one of the teachers that leave the school last. So he is resourceful and I can count on him,†says Nannozi. She adds that Kaggwa handles pupils’ counselling and guidance sessions, making him endearing to the parents and fellow teachers.
Lawrence Kasage in P.7 and the school head boy, says Kaggwa is more of a parent because of the way he treats and counsels the pupils.
“In each of his lessons, we learn something about life. He tells us to take education seriously and be disciplined if we are to succeed,†says Kasaga.
Jane Nalumansi of P.5 says although Kagwa is the senior male teacher, female pupils, too, find him approachable. “He is one person pupils talk to most,†she says.
Nalumansi says Kaggwa talked to her mother to allow her go back to school when she had missed a whole week of classes for cultivation during one rainy season.
Nominate a teacher for the Teachers Making a Difference award
Identify the teacher who has impacted his/her students and community. Send his/her name, contact to Mwalimu, P.O.Box 9815, Kampala or Email: mwalimu@newvision.co.ug Or SMS your nomination: Type mwalimu [leave space] name of person, school, contact then send to 8338
Winnie Nanteza brings you the story.
THE challenges of teaching in a community UPE school are a dreaded experience but carrying the burden of changing the community’s attitude towards education is another.
If it was not for the then head teacher; Leocardia Nalusiba beseeching that he becomes a teacher in his home community, Godfrey Kaggwa, a teacher in St. Kizito Primary School in Nabitalo Wakiso district, would never have helped residents of Nabitalo to embrace the beauty of educating children.
On this rather sun-drenched Tuesday as he settles down, he looks tired because he has spent the whole morning restless.
He was preparing the school for the anticipated visitors from Western Union, a financial organisation.
The whole school and the community have gathered in the school compound to express their gratitude to the officials from Western Union for having given a “life†to the frantic children in this school.
On that day, Western Union was launching a programme that aims at empowering individuals, families and communities through access to better education, improving sanitation, hygiene and ensuring food security to increase classroom attendance and performance.
Kaggwa who was as elated as the pupils, could not shed the smile from one side of his face. As I held out my hand for his, he muttered lightly, saying that: “Kati abaana bagenda kusooma bulungi†(loosely translated as now the pupils are going to study comfortably).
Kaggwa says before the project, pupils attended lessons on empty stomachs, especially after the Government placed a ban on making parents pay for their children’s meals at school.
“We are lucky everyone is feeding and this has boosted class attendance and performance in addition to my advice to them to consider educating their children,†he says.
Kaggwa says his experience of teaching in a UPE school is not a good one but the feeling of ‘giving back to the community’ gives him satisfaction.
“We lack materials like text books and other school stationery. However, I have bought for myself the books I need to teach my pupils and I also get other materials from my teacher friends from better schools,†he says.
Kaggwa says parents in the community used to take (some still do) education for granted.
He visited the family of the kid he did not see in class to talk to their parent to send him/her to school the following day.
“They think it is a luxury that they used not to buy school uniforms for their kids but now the Western Union has helped,†he says.
Kaggwa boasts of the fact that this attitude is continuously changing and many parents and children are appreciating his effort.
“They even look for me at home just to say ‘Thank You,†he says. He is also on the village water sanitation committee which is obliged to ensure that the locals get clean and safe water.
The group mobilises people to maintain the borehole and repair it when it is faulty. He is also the secretary of St. Steven Kiwenda Church of Uganda. Jane Frances Nannozi, Kaggwa’s head teacher, says due to Kaggwa’s hard work, pupils have been performing mathematics and science better than other subjects.
She says Kaggwa has always helped the boys solve their problems whenever they report to him.
“The school attendance is now better. He has done so much in linking and blending home with school. This has improved the pupils’ concentration which has improved performance,†Nannozi says
How he does it?
While teaching, Kaggwa finds some minutes to counsel the pupils about life.
“I know the young generation needs more than just academic knowledge. I counsel, guide, and discuss with them different aspects of life and their problems which are usually personal,†he says.
He is open with pupils, and tries to draw them closer so that they can confide in him. Whenever they have disagreements, they always run to him. His dedication is not limited to the pupils but the entire school.
Kaggwa’s biggest challenge is the failure by parents to check on the academic performance of their children.
Many parents do not attend the parents-teachers meeting called at school.
“We have tried to call them but we still get very low numbers. This is what I want to strategise on and change. I want them to follow up their children’s academics,†he says.
Who is Kagwa Godfrey
Kaggwa, the fourth born of eight children of the late Eliazi Kagwa and Kevina Nabukeera, is from a humble background.
His father was a village tailor and a coffee farmer. It is form these businesses that he raised the finances to feed and educate them.
He later joined Wampewo Ntakke Secondary School from where he completed his O’Level. He lost his mother after completing his O’Level in 1987 and his father in 2002.
He did not continue to A’ Level because his father could not afford to pay the fees.
But between 1979 and 1992 Kagwa worked at Namulonge Research Station as an office administrator in animal husbandry.
He started his teaching career in 1992 after Nalusiba pleaded with him to teach because the school lacked enough teachers at that time.
“She pleaded with me as a parent and helped me realise that I could actually give back to my community by teaching in this school,†he says.
“With time, I grew to love it. I realised I loved dealing with children than animals,†Kaggwa says.
Nalusiba paid his fees for the two years to attain a Grade III (1996) teaching course at Lutete Teachers College. She also covered the Grade V at Nkozi National Teachers College in 2005.
His elder brother, Fredrick Ssekitoleko, is also a teacher of Social Studies and English in the same school.
Kaggwa raises additional money from cultivating cassava, beans, maize, and sweet potatoes which he sells off.
Kaggwa has taught in this school for 18 years and hopes to retire from there.
First memory in class
I started teaching when I was 36 years old in 1992. For a 30-minute English lesson, I taught for only 15 minutes because I wasted the first 15minutes speechless.
There were 65 pupils in the class and I could not imagine what I was going to teach these kids without any experience. I even failed to open the Nile English Course textbook I held tightly in my left hand.
To my relief, the next teacher appeared at the door ten minutes earlier.
What others say about him
“Teachers are supposed to be at school by 7:30 but he is usually here way before 7:00am to get ready for the day. He is also one of the teachers that leave the school last. So he is resourceful and I can count on him,†says Nannozi. She adds that Kaggwa handles pupils’ counselling and guidance sessions, making him endearing to the parents and fellow teachers.
Lawrence Kasage in P.7 and the school head boy, says Kaggwa is more of a parent because of the way he treats and counsels the pupils.
“In each of his lessons, we learn something about life. He tells us to take education seriously and be disciplined if we are to succeed,†says Kasaga.
Jane Nalumansi of P.5 says although Kagwa is the senior male teacher, female pupils, too, find him approachable. “He is one person pupils talk to most,†she says.
Nalumansi says Kaggwa talked to her mother to allow her go back to school when she had missed a whole week of classes for cultivation during one rainy season.
Nominate a teacher for the Teachers Making a Difference award
Identify the teacher who has impacted his/her students and community. Send his/her name, contact to Mwalimu, P.O.Box 9815, Kampala or Email: mwalimu@newvision.co.ug Or SMS your nomination: Type mwalimu [leave space] name of person, school, contact then send to 8338