Over the last three weeks, some parents have been up in arms over the new fees being charged by school heads, for students seeking admission to senior one and senior five. 

The parents argue that the fees are unfairly high. Many of the concerned parents are looking at schools that are government-aided; where teachers are deployed and paid by the state, while the infrastructure, textbooks and laboratory equipment are donated by the government. These are schools that are usually in the upper echelon of academic ranking.

However, as we have argued in the past, they are also the most in-demand schools by financially-able parents and state bureaucrats, who are looking to ensure the welfare of their children.

Thus even when academic performance is as expected, the demand for admission can be unbearable – thus some of these head teachers have devised means to keeping some parents out, including hiking tuition fees.

Recently, the permanent secretary, Alex Kakooza, declared that he would not allow schools to sanction to increment in tuition fees without sufficient cause. As the parents grumble about the problem, the permanent secretary, who made his declaration without provocation, is silent.

His ministry is not saying anything about whether the increments are sanctioned by Kakooza’s office or not; so, parents are none the wiser.    Implicit in all this, the school heads may assume that the increment will reduce the long queues of parents pleading for admission, while meeting some much-needed financial needs.

Unfortunately, the problem has worsened, with schools that had little to do with “the admission pressure” also hiking their fees to ‘keep pace’. And until the state intervenes to resolve the matter, it may escalate to a point where parents cannot afford the tuition, or are forced into criminality to pay for their children’s education.

school@observer.ug

Jinja district officials have closed down Lakeshore Academy in Kakira town council after a fire destroyed several classrooms, dormitories, and the kitchen, last week.

According to Alexander Kavuma, a teacher at the school, the fire started in the dormitories before spreading to other areas.

“The fire was reported by one of the pupils who had remained in the dormitory,” Kavuma revealed.

Consequently, a large amount of property including mattresses, suitcases, books, beds, and some buildings were destroyed in the inferno that took the police several hours to extinguish.

The school director, Moses Gabwire, blames the tragedy on arson but declined to name any suspects.

“We shall move on and continue excelling irrespective of this unfortunate incident,” Gabwire said, with the sadness etched on his face.

However, the officer in charge of Kakira police division, Sam Talemwa, said they were looking into the matter. For his part, the inspector of schools in Jinja district, Paul Baliraine cautioned all schools to acquire fire extinguishers to guard against excessive losses. 

Parents of pupils at Guardian nursery and primary school in Mpumudde, Jinja district, are upset after their school was taken over by soldiers, following a land wrangle there.

Early last Monday, the parents arrived to find eight UPDF officers guarding the school, and barring all pupils from accessing it.

According to the chairman of the Parents and Teachers’ Association (PTA), Nadiope Ikoba, parents had cleared school fees and brought their children for classes, only to be stopped by UPDF officers.

“Most of our parents had paid all the school dues and had happily brought their children to school, but were surprised by the welcome remarks of the UPDF officers who tasked them to go back because the school had been closed until further notice,” Nadiope Ikoba said.

The area defence secretary, Alex Ndize, reported that the efforts to negotiate on the school’s security had been frustrated by politicians and concerned UPDF officers.

“The senior UPDF officers and politicians have failed the efforts of sorting out Guardian school land probe by evading meetings and not advising the school administration genuinely but opt on twisting all the time,” Ndize stated.

For his part, the school’s director, James William Muwaya accused the UPDF of using oral communication instead of being formal. By Friday, efforts to reopen the school had failed after the UPDF declined to join negotiations on the matter.

The Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga, has assured the public that the kingdom will continue to support Muteesa I Royal University through the Kabaka Education fund.

“Buganda government will continue funding the university with Kabaka Education fund so  that all children in Buganda are educated and are able to start up their business,” Mayiga said.

The Katikkiro’s assurance came as he addressed the congregation at the university's sixth graduation ceremony at the main campus in Kirumba, Masaka.

During the ceremony, 1,142 former students received certificates, diplomas and degrees in various disciplines. Of these, 637 were females and 505 males.

In his remarks, the Katikkiro also revealed that the university had been allocated land in the Lubiri development plan following calls for growth of the institution.

The chancellor, Lady Justice Julia Sebutinde was pleased that females had outpaced males in the list of graduands. “It is a sign that parents should continue to support the girl in education,” she said.

The university vice chancellor, Dr Arthur Sserwanga, reported that performance had improved over the last year and also unveiled the new engineering workshop at Kirumba, which he said would improve the teaching of competence-based technical training.

The vice chancellor of Kampala International University (KIU), Dr Mouhamad Mpezamihigomihigo has appealed to the state to more support for private institutions of higher learning.

In an interview last week, Dr Mpezamihigo argued that private universities were offering the same service as their public counterparts, but at a higher cost.

“We have a shortage of expertise and often have to look abroad for experts,” he said. “We would appreciate it if the state would help us by offsetting the cost of a visa for instance, to help produce more local capacity, over time.”

He acknowledged that on face value, this looked like a dip in government revenues, but that would be replenished many times over with increased local capacity. He added that the matter had been raised by the Vice Chancellors’ forum and would be addressed to the education ministry and the president for consideration.

He added that private universities were hoping for other assistance in producing their own experts.

“In the past, the government made a deliberate effort to support senior lecturers at public universities like Mbarara and Makerere with scholarships, which is why they have a high PhD capacity now,” he added. “Private universities also need the same support through organisations based in Sweden, Norway or more.”

In addition to its regular programmes, Dr Mpezamihigo said KIU would start vocational studies at certificate and diploma level in animal husbandry and other branches of agriculture.

“Through what we are calling the KIU institute of technology, we are looking to skill the public in a bid to help them create jobs,” he said. He explained that KIU had secured partnerships with Vodafone to establish a placement scheme.

“Our challenge will be how to retool the students and empower them to find ways of improving the curricula through field experience.”

A week after he was caught in the middle of a political storm with deputy vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, Makerere vice chancellor, Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu is reportedly stoking another controversy.

Last week, another letter leaked from his office, indicating that the vice chancellor had sanctioned Shs 300m for a committee to investigate reports that some students’ marks had been altered to allow them to graduate.

According to the leaked letters, authored by the university’s vice chancellor Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu, the committee, headed by Dr Damalie Naggitta, was set up in 2014 but has never produced any results due to under-facilitation.

Now, in a letter copied to the university secretary, Charles Barugahare, the vice chancellor wants the committee allocated Shs 300,080,000 to facilitate the investigation.

“It is over three years since the referenced committee was tasked with investigation into alleged alteration of marks. The committee has to date not completed work due to lack of facilitation,” reads Ddumba’s January 13, 2017 letter to Barugahare. "This is, therefore, to request that initial payment of at least UGX 80 million is made to fast-track the committee work.”

BLOATED BUDGET?

According to the budget of the 10-member committee, Shs 45m is supposed to be set aside for allowances, airtime and a single advert to cost Shs 8.9m, while Shs 3.95m will cater for refreshments and food, among others.

BACKGROUND

The committee was started in response to a flurry of media reports that some of the university’s graduates had acquired fake degrees after bribing some individuals.

The senate, the university’s highest academic decision-making body, approves the final marks and grading for students before the graduation list is confirmed and released.

The reports cited a Facebook account bearing names of Sultan Ed Eddy, who claimed to be a student at the university, but was linked to a one Jack Mathew. He was alleged to be working with someone in the senate to change marks. Subsequently, Eddy started linking other students from the institution to Mathew for the same purpose.

Mathew, through Facebook chats, alleged that he had access to university database and he could fix missing papers and marks. He also claimed that if a student had a retake, he could help to get rid of it by giving a better mark, adding he was able to do the alteration for most of the colleges except that of Computing and Information Science.

The deal then was that marks for each course unit could be changed at a cost of Shs 100,000. Many students in 2015 were reported to have used Mathew to change their marks to graduate. At the time, Makerere University trashed the reports, dismissing them as were rumours. However, behind the scenes, the vice chancellor decided to set up a committee to study the matter.

When contacted on Friday, Prof Ddumba-Ssentamu declined to comment on the matter. Officials in his office told us they were concerned that the matter would be blown out of context, due to the ongoing crisis going on between Prof Ddumba-Ssentamu and Prof Nawangwe.

The two officials recently traded letters in which they accused each other of mismanagement.  

As parents debate the challenges of sending their children back to school for the first term, MOSES TALEMWA has been asking them what it takes to keep the students motivated to stay for the rest of the term.

When James Mutebi (not his real name) joined senior one, two years ago, it was the first time he was going away from home to boarding school. Unknown to him, his parents agonised over many of the things they would give him.

Apart from his hefty tuition fees, his parents were unsure how much to give him as pocket money; funds Mutebi would spend on things, personal to him.

“Later, I learned that they were worried that I would not be able to handle a lot of money,” he recalls. “But they gave me Shs 100,000 with repeated warnings to spend the money on only important things.”

However, Mutebi admits it was also a major eye-opener for him and he was at loss as to what to do with the money.

“Once at school, I couldn’t sleep, as I worried that someone would steal my money and cause me problems,” he recalls. “Only later, did I realise that I could store some of the money with the bursar and withdraw what I needed from time to time.”

This week, when he returned to school, his parents parted with Shs 250,000 as pocket money. Mutebi’s parents are not the only ones who are concerned about the challenge of how much to give their children as pocket money. 

WHY POCKET MONEY

Most parents admit that they find it necessary to provide pocket money after giving their children the basic school necessities such as soap, eats, toothpaste and shoe polish, to cater for any emergency expenditure that may arise.

These parents argue that the practice may be used to teach children valuable life skills, such as budgeting wisely and living within their means, as Ayub Kalema Golooba, a teacher at Mengo SS, explains.

“Parents should help their children identify their priorities at school and budget around those, and should they later complain when they run out of money, they should be made to understand that such situations could be avoided with better budgeting,” he says.

TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE

Many parents tell us they give to their children between Shs 180,000 and Shs 300,000 as pocket money. However, some insisted that they can go as low as Shs 100,000. But one parent at Seeta SS, who declined to be named, said he spends up to Shs 350,000 per term on his daughter.

“I give her more than her brothers, who get Shs 250,000 each, because I’m convinced that if I don’t take care of my daughter, some man will … and I won’t like it; so, I don’t take chances,” said this parent.

A parent who only identifies himself as Tumubweine gives his son Shs 200,000 per term at Namilyango College.

“I rationalise it as Shs 2,000 per day for three months [90 days], plus an emergency of Shs 20,000,” he explains.

But another parent, whose daughter is studying at Stella Maris Nsuube, believes Shs 150,000 is sufficient.

“The sisters give them everything including meals, and yet I have also catered for most of their basic needs,” she says.

Golooba explains that the amount spent on pocket money depends on the wealth of the parent, as well as the kind of school where the student is.

“If you send your child to a school favoured by elites such as state bureaucrats and businessmen, you have to be prepared to spend a lot as pocket money,” he said. “Those who attend upcountry schools that are favoured by the less well-to-do can get away with less pocket money.”

However, he warned that if parents lose sight of this issue, they can create a problem. “Either the child will develop negative attitudes towards colleagues, resort to criminality to survive or other means,” Golooba explained.
 
INSTALLMENTS

Some parents have devised a mode of payment that makes it easier for them to raise the monies, but also convenient to manage the money. Stella Nampeewo, who has a son at St Henry’s College Kitovu in Masaka, disburses the money in three instalments to make it easy for her son.

“I give him some money to take him up to visitation day [usually a month after the start of the term], then I give him [on visitation day]some more when I see him and send the last instalment a week to the end of the term,” Nampeewo said. “That way, it is easier for both of us. Unless you control him, he can spend or lose all the money before the end of the term. As for me, it is a lot of money to give him at once.” 

Her strategy is followed by a myriad of parents, who see it as too early to trust their children with what they see as large sums of money.
But Tina Musuya, executive director at the Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention (Cedovip), argues that this is the wrong strategy.

“As these children develop, we need to inculcate values that will stay with them for life, such as saving money for a rainy day as well as planning for an achievement later in life.”

Her views are shared by the Australian parenting website, Raising Children, which advises, “as long as your child understands how much he’ll get (and how often), he can start learning how to use the money well”.

The website further advises that, “pocket money is one of the first ways children can learn the basics of managing money. But how much pocket money you give, when you give it, and whether you give it at all depends on your family circumstances and values”.

“When children get pocket money, they have to make choices about spending or saving it. And if they are saving up, they have to learn about waiting for things they want,” the website advises.

“Pocket money can also help children learn about the consequences of losing money, giving money away and even gambling. Letting your children make a few mistakes is also part of the learning process.”
 
SMART INNOVATIONS

But not all parents are convinced that their children are ready to handle money. So, some parents are excited about a smart application dubbed LipaMobile, which uses plastic smart cards to make transactions.

Parents no longer need to give hard cash to their children. Instead they send money to the card by dialling *270*77# on their phones. After this they are able to monitor purchases made by the child through a text message sent after every transaction at the canteen.

With these transaction cards, no one can steal and use it unless you have its secret code. The cards also bear the photographs of the owners; so, we also utilise them as school identity cards.

Each card costs Shs 20,000 and a student can use it for up to six years. If a student decides to leave the school to join another that does not have the system, a parent can be able to withdraw all the savings on the card at the school premises.

OTHER USES

The card is also being developed to embrace other uses. One of these is as a means of registering entry and exit into the school premises. As a gate pass, a student swipes their card at the gate and this sends a message to the parent, indicating that the student has checked out at a particular time.

Parents can be able to determine the time it will take their children to reach home. By doing this, the cards control some errant children that would meander around the city and reach home late or after some time.”

Laban Jemba, the CEO of LipaMobile, explained that some 15 schools use the smart cards and 23 more have registered to get started.

“Digital migration is an irreversible trend and the way to go. By students not having cash at hand, it is not easy to lure them into indiscipline actions that involve money like buying alcohol and marijuana, among others, since they need a swipe machine to withdraw money,” Jemba said.

Some of the schools that are actively using the system are Baptist High School, Zzana, Trinity College Nabbingo, Irma Pfeiffer SS and teachers at King's College Budo.

Schools that have registered to start using the application this year include Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo, Kawempe Muslim Secondary School, St Lawrence School Ssonde, Viva College Jinja, Trinity Academy, St Augustine College Wakiso, and Mt St Henry’s High School in Mukono.

According to Jemba, parents are also able to obtain students’ academic reports, disciplinary reports, school announcements, class attendance, among others using LipaMobile application to their mobile phones.

“While students can easily get pocket money on their card, a parent can also set spending limits [the times a child can withdraw money] from the card,” he said.

NECESSITY OF POCKET MONEY

Anne Ampaire, a lecturer in child psychologist at Makerere University, believes that if it were possible to control the learning environment in secondary schools, where all necessities are provided, pocket money is not obligatory and many students can survive without this facilitation.

“There are utilities in place at school; so, I see no reason why parents should be stressed over not providing pocket money to their children,” he argues.

However, she concedes that there is always a need for pocket money since the need is biological and psychological. Ampaire advises that the amount of money allocated should correspond to the recipient’s level of education.

“If there is an opportunity to use a canteen, parents should make some pocket money available,” Ampaire says.

She explains that university students need more money to meet additional expenses while on campus.

“When one has money, it can help improve their concentration on studies, since they need to fit into the community, but if not handled well, it can cause problems if they have too much money.”

mtalemwa@observer.ug

Kyambogo University students are calling for the scrapping of the e-voting system there, arguing that it is time-wasting and worthless.

The call came out of a meeting between the university management and guild representative councilors (GRCs) on February 6, 2017 to sensitize students about the system. After the closed-door meeting, some GRCs welcomed the system, although the majority trashed it, causing a riot at campus that lasted several hours, last week.

Led by Fahad Bahati, a former guild presidential aspirant, the students stormed sensitization points that had already been erected within the campus, threatening to cause havoc if the e-voting system is used during the forthcoming guild election.

“Voting is part of campus activities but of a lesser weight towards our academics. You have e-voting being established that’s worth a billion of shillings yet you haven’t introduced e-library yet? Does it really make sense? Our libraries do not have adequate and different textbooks required for our academics, e-library would have been the solution in this case,” Bahati raged.

According to Bahati, there are more important issues like e-campus that the administration should have worked on before introducing this type of voting.

“E-campus has never displayed our results at any time. We still [struggle] to look out for our marks on noticeboards, the system has very many loopholes that need to be sorted out [because] students clear fees, but still their portals show that they haven’t paid yet or registered with the campus. So, [management] should instead focus on how to rectify this system first,” Bahati added.

But the dean of students, David Kassuti, argued that the sensitization process would continue to capture every student’s opinion before a final decision is reached.

“We are still sensitizing to capture most of the student ratings of the system; until then, we cannot decide on what to do next,” he said.

E-voting at Kyambogo was introduced last year with the intention of reducing on irregularities during elections, after concerns that vote rigging was rampant. It was also meant to make the voting process a little faster.

tusiime.chris20@gmail.com

Airtel Uganda last week rewarded the best performers in some of their adopted schools such as St Ponsiano Primary School in Makindye, Sseke Primary School in Lwengo and Nanfugaki Primary School in Iganga with scholastic materials to boost their secondary education.

The five schools were adopted and refurbished in 2012 and 2015 under the Airtel Uganda Adopt-A-School initiative.

With backing from the education ministry, Airtel adopts a school, and goes on to improve all of its facilities including classrooms and libraries for hundreds of underprivileged children from disadvantaged communities.

Speaking at the awarding ceremony, held at Nanfugaki PS, Charity Bukenya, the Airtel corporate social responsibility manager, said this is the second time they rewarding the best performing pupils with scholastic materials.

“Quality education is not only the most important tool for social –economic development of our country but also a key weapon in the fight against poverty,” she said.

During those years, the pupils’ performance improved where 21 passed in division one in 2016 compared to 2015 where 16 passed in division one.

“We intend to extend this awards programme to all of our adopted schools in order to motivate our students to always work hard,” Bukenya said.

Pupils of Njeru Primary School and their teachers are still smiling after Eskom Uganda handed over a refurbished school block to the school’s management and Njeru district officials after the renovation.

Njeru PS is a government school started in 1960, previously located where the present-day Nalubaale power station stands.  When the school transferred to Njeru, it was dilapidated with broken windows and classrooms roofed with asbestos.

Eskom Uganda’s managing director, Thozama Gangi, was on hand to hand over a refurbished classroom and water tank. He pledged more support from the company towards enhancing the quality of life of the communities where it operates.

The company is responsible for power generation at both Nalubaale and Owen falls’ dam.

Receiving the classroom block, on behalf of government, assistant commissioner for Primary Education, Mukasa Lusambu, commended Eskom’s support, adding: “When this whole project is completed, this school will be able to gain its lost glory and compete at the National level”.

Eskom refurbished one seven-classroom block and has pledged more support to the school, which has an enrolment of 400 learners.

alfredodcho@gmail.com

The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has proposed tomorrow (Tuesday) as the day for release of the 2016 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results.

The Observer has learnt that officials from Uneb, led by its executive secretary Dan N Odongo, will brief the Education Minister Janet Museveni about the results at State house in Nakasero today.

After this meeting, once both the minister and Uneb agree, the results will officially be released tomorrow at the office of the president conference hall in Kampala. The event shall start with a media briefing at 11am before results are open to the public.

Speaking to The Observer last week, Odongo said the board has managed to release results this year at all levels on schedule – thanks to Uneb’s enhanced ICT adoption.

“Our ICT innovations have been very instrumental. We have tremendously reduced on the manual processes that were taking a lot of time,” Odongo said. “This is the direction we are taking for subsequent years to ensure better service delivery.”

According to Odongo, timely release of results is also geared towards enabling parents easily find placements for their children in schools as well as help the ministry of education to conduct the selection exercises for senior one and five students.

With results coming early, this will also give room for universities to prepare early enough to admit students. Some 104,361 senior six candidates registered to sit for UACE exams, an increase of about three per cent from 101,268 candidates in 2015.

Of these, 23,920 candidates were from government schools and 80,441 private. Uneb conducted the examination, from November 14, 2016 and till December 6.

Odongo noted then in a statement that the gender gap in registration at this level remained wide compared to O-level exams where female candidates made up about half (49.1 per cent) of the total candidature.

After the release of results, parents can check results of a candidate by typing: UACE. (leave a space) correct full index number of the candidate and send to 6600. Odongo warns that results obtained by this method are for notification only, and cannot be tendered as official.

“Result slips and certificates remain the only authentic proof of performance, and candidates should collect these from their respective schools from where they registered,” he said at the recent release of UCE exams.

nangonzi@observer.ug

Over the years, there has been one silent disease in schools: Backdoor admissions.

As YUDAYA NANGONZI writes, officials in several top schools have revealed that they are forced to leave out some children who fall within their cut-off points, in favour of those sent to them by the ministry officials, schools' founding bodies, wealthy parents, and others holding top government positions.

At every opening of the senior one and five selection/placement exercises, head teachers are strongly warned that all children who passed Uneb examinations must be placed in their schools.

Upon receiving computerized sheets containing their intake, selling and not-selected lists of students, they are issued with guidelines for the two-day exercise at the entrance of the selection venue.

The first guideline this year for S1 students read: “Admission is principally based on order of merit … and the original order of choices made by candidates.”

The two-page guidelines, signed by the permanent secretary, Alex Kakooza, go ahead to indicate on number two that “choices [of students] must be respected, especially [when] ‘selling’ students to second, third and fourth choices in that order.”

This year’s senior five guidelines also emphasized the same. But one special set of head teachers are reading different instructions as well. These are the head teachers of some of the elite secondary schools in the country.

They have to cater for another list of students that are not available on the selection lists provided by the Uganda National Examinations Board. These students are forwarded by ministry officials, founding bodies of schools, wealthy parents, and others holding top government positions. And this is why some are asking whether schools are still admitting students on merit.

This is why Education Minister Janet Museveni came out openly to answer this question. Speaking at the opening of the S5 placement exercise at UMA, recently, she directed that,

“Head teachers should disregard special admission requests, meaning that there will be no lists from me or lists that originate either from the ministry or any other special interest groups.”

As this statement raised applause from a fully-packed hall with head teachers and principals of institutions, the minister was quick to add that

“placement into the available schools and institutions will only be done on merit. Therefore, anything done outside this exercise should stop forthwith.”

For head teachers who will go ahead to admit students illegally, the minister said they will be personally held accountable. But several interviews with officials from top secondary schools show that the challenge lies with ‘big’ ministry of education and sports technocrats.

BACKDOOR ADMISSIONS

On the last day of the S1 selection process, an emcee at Lugogo called head teachers of the top boarding and day secondary schools for a closed-door meeting. 

The schools included Kings’ College Budo, Namilyango College, Mengo SS, Lubiri SS, Gayaza High School, Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, Ntare School, Gombe SS and Trinity College Nabbingo.

In an interview with The Observer, Keith Kangwagye, the assistant deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Ntare School, the meeting was meant to guide head teachers on how to handle pressures of ‘backdoor lists’ of students sent to them by ministry after the selection exercise.

“They tell us owners of these students are responsible citizens who have children and relatives and deserve placement in our schools whenever we are approached,” Kangwagye said. “Yes, we listen but I believe this is total corruption. People take corruption to be money exchanging hands but such backdoor admissions is another form of corruption.”

He said the lists are usually sent to his school without explanations after about two weeks from the initial selection exercise. Last year, Ntare School received about 10 per cent of new students to consider for placement in addition to those selected during the selection process.

“Sometimes, the students sent to us have not passed very well, and on another good day, they have good marks. So, it is usually a difficult situation to say no to the list when you have been ordered by ministry of education officials,” he said.

Asked how they handle this, Kangwagye said the school strikes a middle ground and finds a way of considering the students. According to Mary Mukasa Kalyango, the deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Mengo SS, the ministry sent them about five students last year, and being a day school, it is normally not a challenge.

Of these, four had passed in division one and one in division two, which was still within their cut-off points.

“Even when the students are recommended to schools that are not their preference, they don’t turn up. In my view, this is corruption from ministry officials to send us children,” Kalyango said. 

At Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, the ministry recommended about 40 students to the school as its deputy head teacher, Rachael Kironde, revealed to us.

“Whenever we are admitting students, we do it knowing that there is a list coming from the ministry and you have to create space for them. As a teacher and parent, I find this so unfair since the students don’t even give us first choices but that is how the system has been working,” Kironde said.

Kironde is one of those deputy head teachers who gave a thunderous applause to Museveni’s directive to halt back door admissions.

“I am so excited about this directive because it will give us chance to admit more girls with aggregate five that we usually leave out at senior one,” she said.

Kironde, however, explained that sometimes students that are not in their cut-off perform well while those that are weak gradually eliminate themselves from system.

“OUR HANDS ARE TIED”

An official at a top girls-only boarding school, who preferred anonymity, told us that their ‘hands are tied’ when it comes to admitting students. At this school, sometimes they consider orders given to them by the foundation body of the school.

“For instance, if I’m in a school and the foundation body is the Catholic Church, I cannot make the whole archbishop cry and kneel over placement of child recommended to us with aggregate eight because our cut-off is aggregate six!” the official said.

She revealed to us that some individuals ‘from above’ and top government officials liaise with ministry officials to have their children admitted.

“Sometimes, I feel the hands of ministry officials are also tied. An official will call you requesting to admit a child and you really feel there is some strong force behind their phone calls,” she said. “The backdoor system is not bad only that some people go ahead and misuse it. When the numbers go overboard, head teachers have a reason to speculate that the lists sent to them are not genuine.”

All teaching and non-teaching staff at this school are also entitled to free admission slots for their biological children as long as they excelled with a first grade.

James Kyewusa, the deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Lubiri SS, said head teachers sometimes honour forgeries from people claiming they have been sent by ministry officials.

“Why should I fear to report people who send me special lists? What is there to fear? If you have any challenges, report them instead of keeping quiet and suffering in silence,” Kyewusa advised head teachers.

From Mengo SS, Kalyango urged wealthy parents to also refrain from mounting pressure on ministry officials to select their children in a bid to stop backdoor admissions.

EDUCATION MINISTRY SPEAKS

Speaking on the sidelines of the senior one 2017 selection exercise, Patrick Muinda, the ministry of Education spokesman, told The Observer that the ministry also conducts ‘special’ admissions for children whose parents registered their complaints with the ministry.

“The admission committee goes ahead to analyse the cases of the registered children before they place them in various schools. However, it is worth noting that these children [scored less than the official] cut off points, ”Muinda said. “But even for those that are above the cutoff, they go ahead and surprise us with good performance at the end.”

According to Muinda, the ministry takes care of certain categories of children under the special admission process. These are; children of people on missions (children of ambassadors), children with disabilities and children with what he called complicated health issues.

“Now, for example, if a child has diabetes and a school like Gayaza High School is the nearest school to the hospital or place where the child’s health can be attended to incase of emergency, the admission committee recommends that this child be placed in Gayaza High School,” he said.

“This is an open process that applies to all people in case they approach us.”

Asked why head teachers blame ministry officials on backdoor admissions, Muinda said: “I have not heard of such a case brought to our attention and if it happens, head teachers should feel free to express their concerns to the permanent secretary.”

He added that if some head teachers want to remain anonymous, they can go ahead and do so as long as they communicate their issues. Baritazale Benson Kule, the chairperson of the admission committee and the commissioner for Secondary Education, said head teachers recently complained that the number of students sent to them is overwhelming.

“After the minister’s directive, we are going to review the guidelines for placement of students. I want to assure you that all children will be placed on merit after this review,” Kule told The Observer. “We shall now focus on those students who only had mistakes in choices for schools.”

For now, Kangwagye said the minister's directive may not solve the backdoor admission problem at ago but hopes head teachers will get some relief as ministry officials will work with caution.

“The minister should also put her directive in form of a circular, sign it personally, and copies be distributed to all schools for purposes of record. We now feel more protected after this directive,” an excited Kangwagye said.

nangonzi@observer.ug

Diamond Trust bank is on a drive to extend financial literacy to Ugandan schools in a bid to teach students on how to save and make investments for the future.

The move has seen the bank embrace students from Kisubi High School and Aga Khan High School in Kampala.

The latest beneficiaries of the training sessions are Seeta High School – Green campus students. The training held at their Mukono campus, last week, saw the bank’s marketing officer, Emily Miti, and the Seeta branch manager, Jane Mukebezi, facilitating the session.

“You should plan, budget, prioritize, set goals and also minimize on your expenditure," Mukebezi said. “In so doing, you will be able to increase your savings.”

For her part, Miti called for the development of a responsible spending culture.

“It is actually possible to develop a culture of saving at a tender age when you have fewer responsibilities instead of spending on luxuries.” Miti said.

The move is intended to open up the minds of the students to responsible financial living and the possibilities of operating a bank account.

Five years ago, the head teacher of Bubandi seed school in Bundibugyo hired a science and mathematics teacher.

The teacher, who had just completed her A-levels, albeit with lower grades than she had hoped for, was very happy to take the job. Over time, she realized that she was the only mathematics and physics teacher in the school. What this meant was that she was responsible for all the mathematics and physics studied in that school from senior one to senior four.

While the school badly needed her skills, she was yet to make it to the district payroll, yet she was also one of the most overworked teachers there. With time, two other secondary schools got to realize that while she was what is known as an unlicensed teacher, her skills at teaching her subjects were up to scratch.

She was soon picked up by two other secondary schools in the neighbourhood, which agreed to make it worth her while, financially. Over time, Bubandi Seed School could not compete for her services.

Many schools are struggling in this way, unable to attract the best mathematics and science teachers around. Indeed, many schools have agreed to share these “scarce” resources.

The education ministry acknowledges that there is a severe shortage of mathematics and science teachers in the country and has pledged to try and recruit some more. But the problem is compounded by a severe vicious cycle.

Many of the current crop of mathematics and science teachers do not teach the subjects well enough to encourage students to love and eventually pass them. 
As the release of A-level results found, only 20 per cent of the entire enrolment for the national examinations even attempted the exam.

Consequently, even fewer will apply to become teachers of the subjects. It is time to admit that the teaching of mathematics and science has hit crisis levels in Uganda. Only then can a serious solution be sought.

school@observer.ug

University graduates have been urged to pay less emphasis on graduation parties and, instead, focus on research, publication and upgrading their skills.

The call, by Uganda Christian University vice chancellor Dr John Senyonyi, came during the institution’s 17th graduation ceremony, held at Bishop Barham University College in Kabale, recently.

“You don’t know enough yet and will never exhaust knowledge! Therefore, you must continually build on what you have acquired with current knowledge, especially technology proficiency. Keep on growing and learning,” said Dr Senyonyi.

He challenged the graduates to acknowledge their vulnerability.

“It is estimated that educated youth are twice as likely to be unemployed as the less educated,” Dr Senyonyi added. “In other words, while higher education offers opportunity for a better income and improved livelihood, it may not guarantee employability.”

On his part, the principal of Bishop Barham, Rev Dr Medard Rugyendo called for a shift in mindset from graduation parties to cherishing research and publications, which he said are the core roles of a university education.

The guest of honour at the function was bishop of Kinkiizi diocese, Dan Zoreka, who challenged universities to prepare all-round persons with the power of critical inquiry, logical thought and independent judgment.

Some 207 students graduated with certificates, diplomas, and bachelor’s degrees. UCU holds six graduations annually at both its main campus, regional campuses and constituent colleges.

These include three graduation ceremonies at the UCU main campus in Mukono, two graduation ceremonies at Bishop Barham and one graduation ceremony at UCU Mbale University College.

Former students of Gayaza High School will on June 11, 2017 hold a fundraising walk, ‘Tambula Gayaza’ to raise Shs 1 billion for the construction of a new administration block at the school.

The move, which will see the walkers start from Kololo ceremonial grounds to Constitutional Square, aims at replacing an old structure constructed in 1905.

Speaking at a briefing in Kampala on Wednesday, February 22, the school’s head teacher Victoria Sserunkuuma Kisarale, said it has now become necessary to build a new block due to space constraints, yet the school lacks sufficient funds.

“The situation is quite dire,” she said. “The staffroom was built to accommodate 30 teachers. However, the school population has since grown [to 1,130] and so has the staff team, who are now close to 75, rendering the conditions in the staffroom impractical,” she said.

She acknowledged that several other old structures like dormitories needed to be refurbished, but the new administration block was more urgent. The Gayaza Old Girls Association (GOGA) chairperson, Dr Florence Kasirye, said they had realized the space constraint in 2015, and were intent on ensuring the new building would ensure staff welfare.

“We are glad that many alumni and friends of the school have given tremendous support and many people have shown interest in giving back to the school,” she said, noting that the team of architects and engineers are already in place and have developed the designs.

The charity walk chairperson and PTA chair, Dr Evelyn Kahiigi, said tickets for the walk are available at Shs 50,000 at all Café Javas points, Aristoc Booklex points and Capital Shoppers supermarket outlets. Mobile money users can send funds to Florence Kasirye on 0772401185.

Preparations to mark Mt St Mary’s College Namagunga’s 75 years of existence are in high gear, with celebrations set for September 16, 2017.

According to the school head teacher, Sr Seraphine Amulen, the President Yoweri Museveni and first lady Janet Museveni, whose daughters passed through the school, will grace the event.

Established in 1942 by the Catholic Church, the school has seen several prominent old students succeed, from former vice president Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe to Oxfam chief, Winnie Byanyima; FDC vice president for eastern Uganda Salaamu Musumba and Busitema University vice chancellor Prof Mary Okwakol, among many others.

The head teacher invited several old girls to support their alma mater, during a media briefing held at the school last week.

“As we mark the school's 75 years of existence, we want to use this year to celebrate the past achievement, cherish the present and shape the future for the young girls that pass through our gates”.

Amulen said this year is big for the school; with the theme, Celebrating the past; cherishing the present and shaping the future. Sr Amulen added that the school was hoping to ensure continuity on the path of the founders of the school, with tribute to the achievements across the years.

Angela Bageine, the chairperson of Namagunga Old Girls Association (NOGA), explained that the school has released a programme of activities that will be carried out until September when they will be concluded.

“We are going to have a charity walk on March 25, where the proceeds will go to the refurbishment of school dormitories. We are also planning a fundraising dinner where the chief guest will be a former head teacher who served for 30 years,” she said.

The old girls are planning to hold a health camp at Kawolo hospital in Lugazi, where old girls, who are doctors, will offer free medical services to the patients.

“Other activities will include a play to be performed by the girls that will highlight the school’s footprint since 1942; the play will be taken to different schools,” Bageine explained.

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

Health workers in Busoga were all smiles, when Makerere University School of Public Health (MUSPH) together with the University of California San Francisco donated several pieces of vital medical equipment worth Shs 155m to six major hospitals in the region.

The gesture is intended to end pre-term deaths in Uganda. The beneficiary are Jinja Main Referral, Kamuli mission, Kamuli- Lubaga, Bugiri, Buluba in Mayuge and Iganga hospitals.

Representing Makerere University, Dr Peter Waiswa explained that they had distributed delivery beds, oxygen concentrators, digital thermometers, incubators, photo therapy machines and glucometers.

He explained that they had been motivated to assist after research found that hospitals in the region lacked the required medical equipment to care for pre-term babies (those born before their due date), leading to their death.

“We came in as researchers to reduce on the child mortality rates [in the region] especially of pre-term babies,” Dr Waiswa said.

Studies by the Health ministry have found that an estimated 39,000 babies die at birth annually. Explaining the situation, the deputy director of Jinja Main regional referral hospital, Dr Dan Balinaenseko, blamed deteriorating child care services on government’s long procurement process.

“People blame us for recklessness and negligence of their babies who sometimes die at birth, but the problem lies within our procurement system; you order for an item in one month and it is endorsed after a year hence a demerit to the hospital’s service delivery,” Dr Balinaensekko said.

Balinaenseko asked for more government assistance to regional health centres to boost service delivery to patients.

“Jinja regional referral hospital is responsible for 10 districts in Busoga and as the population increases so do patients,”  Balinaenseko added. “But our employee structure of 2017 is equivalent to the one we had in 2001, irrespective of the new units like ICU, child special care unit and cancer ward, among others,”

In 2016, Makerere University’s School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco started a campaign to end pre-term deaths through support and sensitization of health workers and mothers.

wambuzireacheal@gmail.com

Sarah Namboozo, the overall best student from Makerere University’s 67th graduation, is Shs 1m richer thanks to a handshake from the institution’s convocation.

Namboozo, who obtained a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.91 in the Bachelor of Science - Marketing programme, had been studying at Makerere University Business School (Mubs) for the three-year course.

After her name was called out, she was first congratulated by the university chancellor, Dr Ezra Suruma, before receiving a hearty handshake from the convocation chairman, Dr Tanga Odoi.

The convocation chairman explained that while the money was only a token, it is meant to build a spirit of hard work among students. Last year’s best student received Shs 500,000 from the convocation.

The convocation also launched new awards for best students in each college. For the start, Claire Nanyanzi and Bruce Twinomugisha (both from College of Education and External Studies) were awarded.

Namboozo’s award came on Thursday, the third day of the four-day graduation process. After the ceremonies, Namboozo attributed her success to hard work and determination.

“I formed a discussion group that consisted of determined students. We used to discuss every time we were free and I don’t remember missing any lecture,” a visibly excited Namboozo said.

Namboozo also advised those seeking to follow in her footsteps to learn how to balance books with love affairs.

“Love relationships and books are not two competing things. Each has its time and one should do the right thing at the time,” said Namboozo, a private working student. “Remember one has only three years at campus; so, that time should be utilized carefully.”

The 67th graduation process saw 14,897 graduands receive degrees, diplomas and certificates. Of these, 261 obtained first-class undergraduate degrees while 75 obtained PhDs.

Friday was special for the journalism community as former Observer staffers, Diana Nabiruma, Racheal Ninsiima and Michael Mubangizi lined up with many others to receive master's degrees in Journalism and Communication. 

tusiimechris20 @gmail.com

Education minister Janet Museveni has said government is planning a policy to ensure that nurses and midwives who mistreat patients are penalized.

Museveni explained that they were disturbed by the widespread public outcry on the attitude and general orientation of nurses, midwives and many other categories of health professionals deployed into service.

“There are increasing reports of cruel, insensitive and unethical conduct and behavior amongst them,” Museveni said.

“Apart from openly displaying their discomfort while handling patients, who understandably deserve and expect greater care and compassion, it is not uncommon to see them [nurses and midwives] shouting and displaying all forms of disgust at patients.”

The minister expressed her concerns in her speech at the release of the 22nd series of examinations conducted by the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board (UNMEB) on Friday, February 24 in Kampala.

She told Mulago nursing students and tutors that it is a basic principle of human psychology that care, love and compassion are vital elements in the healing process.

Some 5,500 diploma and certificate candidates from 64 accredited nursing schools sat for these examinations from November 7 to 11 in 2016. Of these, 4,120 are female and 1,380 male. While presenting the results, Hellen Kataratambi, the UNMEB executive secretary, said at least 4,368 candidates passed the examinations. Of the candidates, 1,595 were diploma students and 3,905 were certificate students.

According to the results, the certificate in midwifery programme registered the highest number of candidates at 1,454 where no male students took part. Out of the 3,905 certificate candidates, 3,087 passed while 85 were deregistered and 733 students were ungraded.

Kataratambi attributed the performance to deliberate efforts by UNMEB to strengthen the capacity of tutors, clinical instructors and hospital mentors in practical skills assessment.

At diploma level, of the 1,595 candidates, at least 1,281 students passed the examinations. UNMEB also approved the release of results for 15 candidates for the May 2016 examinations while those of four candidates have been withheld for breaching examination regulation 6.3 1 (b) which prohibits candidates from submitting incomplete or fraudulent clinical record books. The board conducts four examinations every year.

She said the affected candidates would be advised to undertake six months hospital-based mentorship and practical training for adequate skills acquisition.

“Result slips and certificates for all successful candidates have been processed and are ready for distribution to students,” she said.

REGULATING NURSES

Meanwhile, speaking to The Observer on the sidelines of the release, John Wakida, the registrar of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council (UNMC), said nurses and midwives ought to take care of their patients professionally but some remain undisciplined.

“Our anthem is very clear. We are chosen to love and serve but not mistreat patients,” Wakida said, adding that the council, also at the level of the High court, will continue to summon all errant health professionals.

Wakida said the council goes ahead to cross-examine nurses and midwives and, if found guilty, it may recall their certificates, suspend, warn or withhold one’s salary.

But if the case is grave, one can be deregistered from the profession. The UNMC committee sits twice annually to hear complaints from patients and or their caretakers and those collected from its 13 regional centers across the country.

According to Wakida, currently, there are about 55,000 nurses and midwives actively working in the health sector.

nangonzi@observer.ug