The executive director of St Mary’s SS Kitende, Lawrence Mulindwa, has said the school administration will do everything to remain top of the country in O and A-level examination results.
Speaking at the end of a thanksgiving service for 2016 candidates at the St Mary’s stadium in Kitende last Sunday, Mulindwa said the discipline exhibited by students has enabled the school register good grades for the last 16 years.
He said some people are perplexed at how they achieve the grades, but teamwork, devotion and discipline help everyone remain focused at the school.
“St Mary’s SS Kitende does not excel by mistake because the administration and students understand what brought them here,” he said.
“We shall continue excelling provided we are still living.” The call to action elicited applause from students and staff at the function.
According to the recently released Uneb results, Kitende registered 432 O-level candidates and 216 candidates in its annex centre. Of the 432, some 430 passed in division one and only two candidates in division two. At the annex centre, 107 candidates excelled with division one and 89 in division two.
In the A-level results, Kitende emerged with the highest number of students scoring the maximum 20 points, seven. This was followed by Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo with five candidates and Iganga SS, Bweranyangi and St Mary’s College Kisubi each having three candidates.
Mulindwa said he envisages a lot of determination in this year’s O and A-level candidates and expects good results from them next year. The thanksgiving service, attended by students, staff and alumni, was led by Fr Gerald M Zzinda, the chaplain of St Savio Junior School in Kisubi and Fr Stephen Muyanja, his counterpart at St Mary’s SS Kitende.
During the offertory, the O and A-level head teachers handed over household items including sugar, rice, soap, and flour to the priests. Jovita Namutebi, one of the best candidates, who scored 20 points at A-level this year, could not hide her excitement after the service.
“Glory be to God that they prayed for us and we all passed our exams. With hard work and discipline, you can survive the axe at Kitende. I’m ready to sit for pre-entry examinations and study law at Makerere University,” Namutebi said.
At O-level, she had scored aggregate 16 before she was readmitted to study History, Economics, Divinity and Sub Mathematics at A-level from the same school.
George William Mulindwa, the director of Studies at Kitende, said the school has come up with more programmes that will enable students to pass with good grades.
“There is a saying out there that Kitende is the best school because of numerical strengths but this is wrong. We have and will do a lot more to ensure that we transform the raw material we get into finished products,” he said.
Mulindwa commended parents for funding their children’s education by paying more than Shs 1m in school fees yet there are many schools that charge lesser fees. Currently, Kitende has about 3,000 students at O and A-levels.
Meanwhile, after the mass, students and staff were treated to performances by an artiste, David Lutalo, among other parts of entertainment inside the school and a luncheon.
nangonzi@observer.ug