How do boarding schools cope with loadshedding?

Feb 23, 2010

John Mugambe, 44, a lawyer, was surprised when his son’s back-to-school shopping list included five packets of candles and a dozen boxes of matches.

By Arthur Baguma

John Mugambe, 44, a lawyer, was surprised when his son’s back-to-school shopping list included five packets of candles and a dozen boxes of matches.

Despite Mugambe’s shock, his son was determined to have these items. He argued they rarely had power at school.

This irony was manifested in a confession of a star performer from a rural school in Luwero, who attributed his success, to midnight reading using a candle.

However, boarding school heads say students are not allowed to take matches or candles to school.

They argue that much as there is a challenge of loadshedding, they put measures to handle the problem.

At Trinity College Nabbingo, students are not allowed to carry candles or electric appliances apart from iron boxes which must be registered with the school authorities.

Although the school rarely experiences power shortages, it has a stand-by generator.

Hajat Aisha Lubega, the head teacher Nabisunsa Girls School, says as a school policy, whenever power goes off every student is supposed to remain still, until the generator is switched on.

However, unlike many other schools, Nabisunsa rarely experiences loadshedding.

But the privileged experience of uptown first class schools like Nabbingo and Nabisunsa is different from upcountry schools.

Magezi Mawanda, the proprietor of Paramount SS in Bushenyi, says power outage is a big problem in rural boarding schools. He says this, at times, exposes the school and the students to danger.

“Darkness is a security risk. Any intruder can take advantage and sneak into the school,” he explains.

As an alternative, the school mainly relies on solar power and a generator.

Hillary Kiiza, the director of Namirembe Hillside, echoes similar fears, linking darkness to indiscipline and insecurity. He says the school has a standby generator to serve the students since the school experiences loadshedding at least twice a week.

Kiiza advises that as a pre-emptive measure against indiscipline, every school should have an alternative source of power in case of a blackout.

However, the cost of running an alternative power source is way beyond what many schools can afford. Few schools in rural areas can hardly afford sh20,000 a day to run a generator.

Peace Tindyebwa, the head teacher of Wakiso School for the Deaf, says her school spends sh8,000 on fuel to run the generator everyday.

“You cannot afford to keep the generator running throughout the night,” she adds.

Daniel Mbazira, a veteran teacher at Ssaku Senior Secondary School and consultant, warns that the use of candles to provide light during a blackout increases the chances of a fire starting. He suggests flashlights and battery-powered lanterns as alternatives with no associated fire risks.

Power outages can be disastrous to a school if not well handled.

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