When Peace Immaculate Nansubuga was deployed to head Kikonge primary school in Kkingo sub-county of Lwengo district at the start of 2015, she did not know what to expect.
She had spent hardly a year at Namulanda primary school in the neighbouring Kisekka sub-county but was told Kikonge badly needed her skills. With this trust at the back of her mind, she arrived motivated in her new role.
Her high spirits were dampened on the first day at office when she discovered that despite having ten teachers on the government payroll, the school had only 63 pupils and had spent the last decade without a first grade. While the school had a good number of classrooms, the pit latrines, built some 18 years ago, were almost collapsing.
“I sat down and [decided] to raise this school from the ground,” she says. “I realised that people had a negative attitude towards the school and this had to change.”
Nansubuga started by hiring private teachers for the nursery section and also revived the school football team; music, dance and drama team; as well as the scouts and guides club.
She also introduced a vigorous targets-oriented approach for her teachers to ensure quality teaching. Her efforts had paid off by the end of the year as the school registered four first grades in the 2015 Primary Leaving Examinations.
“People started bringing their children back. Now the enrolment has reached 178 and last year we had eight first grades,” she says.
She also started an old pupils’ association to help inspire young ones. The association has met twice in two years and at a recent meeting, they fundraised for the reconstruction of school latrines. At least Shs 3.4m was needed for the pit latrines.
“Most of the old pupils cannot be traced but the few that came contributed Shs 470,000 and I have already started on the construction. We want more to come on board. We also need money to repair verandas of classroom blocks because they are all dilapidated. We can’t wait for government to do this,” she says.
Each pupil pays Shs 8,000 per term, which caters for lunch, periodic tests and exams and the remuneration of two private teachers. Nansubuga, however, says very few parents are willing to pay.
After two years, Nansubuga is confident that her mission to return the school to its 1990s glory days is on course. Kikonge was a dominant force in academics and co-curricular activities, especially music and football, but the last 15 years preceding 2015 were characterised by a steady decline.
“With the help of our old pupils and the goodwill of the parents, we think we can go back to where this school belongs,” she said.