By Kitts Dabanga
Mukono
As the country is still recovering from the recent latest violent strike at the great Ntare School which ended with total destruction of school property when a small group of ill-mannered S.6 candidate students disagreed with the new school policy banning the usage of mobile phones, government has implored management boards to take tougher disciplinary measures to such errant students.
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Speaking with East African Gazette on escalating cases of strikes among schools, Dr. Chrysostom Muyingo, the Minister of state for higher education said government is very concerned and disappointed about the rise of violent strike cases among higher schools across the country all emanating from disobedience of policy positions of school boards by errant students.
“Such policies like ban of usage of mobile phones and laptops was meant to control students from usage of ICT tools for a well-intentioned purposes” commending Namilyango College for recently coming out boldly with its new board decision to exclusively review its ICT policy for purposes of double checking their usage by students.
Dr. Muyingo said he had been briefed by the Namilyango College headmaster Mpuuga Constantine Sajjabi about their new policy direction on ICT use saying the ministry welcomes such moves by school boards because indiscipline students should not be tolerated by the stakeholders.
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Mpuuga told East African Gazette that having held their annual general meeting recently, the stakeholders including parents and old students agreed in principle that a special committee be set up with full mandate to review the IT policy.
It all started after one parent complained about how some students using laptops and powerful mobile phones to secretly view harmful computer material in their dormitories in the mid of the night saying its high time the College took action to curtail such evils which might end up morally corrupting the innocent ones due to unnecessary exposure.
Mpuuga said the committee was put in place to review the policy and is expected to come up with a report to guide the College on how to overcome the challenges of IT abuse as a last decision can be taken on whether to ban or regulate usage of it.
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“We have set up the committee which is currently working hard to come up with a report of which management shall base on to take a lasting decision about how best to use these tools; however, in case they are allowed to use them, there should be strict guidelines to control use’ noted Mpuuga.
Eng. Ronald Kato Kayizzi, the College PTA chairman thanked the parents for turned up and their unanimously voting on a motion which appealed for the voluntary contribution of 35,000/= each student per term towards the Peregrine Kibuuka Endowment fund which seeks to offer bursaries to needy, disciplined and bright students who have financial challenges in a spirit of the college’s deliberate strategy of giving back to the needy.
“Parents unanimously supported the motion which was appealing for a humble contribution of 35,000/, each student per term which proceeds shall go towards meeting the school fees needs for needy, disciplined and bright students of the college who are financially challenged.
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“Your positive action is clearly humanitarian in nature and would go a long way in supporting the needy students” said Kayizzi
He noted that so far the endowment fund which is a brain child project of the college old students grouped under Namilyango College Old Boys Association (NACOBA) was officially launched this year by the speaker of parliament Annet Anite Among who made a personal contribution of 50m shillings during the college’s celebrations marking 121 years of its existence and has so far benefitted 27 students.
Kayizzi noted that they target at raising 1.5B within the next three years of which shall be invested with profits being ploughed back into the college to cover the key selected projects such as fees for the needy students, supporting the college infrastructure, purchase computers and smart boards among others.
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About Namilyango College
Namilyango College, one of the oldest boarding Secondary Schools in Uganda, was founded on 23rd March 1902 by the Mill Hill Fathers. The missionaries had come to Uganda in 1895 to help break down the mentality of many of the peasantry, that ‘Protestantism is English and Catholicism is French.’ Thus, with this in mind, the Mill Hill Fathers of British origin wanted to demystify this erroneous picture.
In March 1902, Bishop Hanlon, the first Mill Hill Bishop in Uganda, started what was later to become Namilyango College, with a two-fold purpose; To train Catechists needed for evangelization; To educate sons of Chiefs. The aims and objectives of the school were summarized in the motto ‘Education for Responsibility’ which was adopted to guide the students and teachers alike.
Later, the motto ‘NISI DOMINUS’ was adopted to give the students a sense of religious devotion, in line with the strong Catholic Foundation of the school.
In what appeared to be a diversion from what was expected of a school or an institution with a strong Christian foundation, Bishop Hanlon emphasized the need and quest for a satisfactory system of free discipline.
During class hours, the boys would be without supervision, as that would positively contribute to the formation of their character. The school was aware that rigid supervision of the students’ spare time activities would be detrimental to their character development.
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The school thus developed a liberal tradition at the very time of its inception, and 95 years later, the tradition has been maintained. And this tradition has, among other things, led to the establishment of the unique position of the school.
Barely after four years, the new school however began to be affected by changes. In September 1906, the catechists who constituted a certain percentage of the students in Namilyango, were transferred to another institution which had been created for that purpose. After this move, the school’s name was changed to ‘Sacred Heart Namilyango High School.’ But the ‘Sacred Heart’ was never popular. It never came out to be identified as the name of the school. Thus, at that time, the school was largely known as ‘Namilyango High School.’
In 1907, another change came about. Fr. Philip Jackson, the headmaster, was told that in addition to his duties as headmaster, he was also to take up duties as a Pastor of the area, an area which was later to become Namilyango Parish.
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This new arrangement meant new responsibilities for the headmaster, and meant that in effect, the school and the parish were to be inextricably linked. This arrangement was welcomed but was not permanent. Thus, in September, 1912 the parish was once again separated from the school, each with its own head.
In August 1929, the brothers of Christian Instruction order (The Kisubi Brothers) took over the school and named it ‘St. Aloysius College.’ However, after three years, the Mill Hill Fathers took it over again in 1932, under Fr. P. Preyde.
For a long time afterwards, the school was subjected to many changes which were occasioned by the government and the church policies. For example, the government introduced a new system of naming schools whereby secondary schools which were boarding were to be called Colleges. Thus, the school became Namilyango College.
Between 1941-1945, new dormitories were built and enrollment rose to 125 students in 1945. In 1943 earlier on, the school had been chosen as one of the self-governing schools of the Protectorate under the terms of The Thomas Report. In the same year, Cadet Corps and Boxing Clubs started.
For the period that the school existed, it became literally engrossed in the national and regional affairs of the country.
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Between 1902, and the eve of Uganda’s independence, Namilyango College had already carved out a name for itself, as one of the most prominent institutions in the country. Towards independence, many of the students who had passed through the school had occupied important positions in the civil service, society and pre-independence politics.
While many of the schools in Uganda today were just starting, Namilyango College had gone at least one step ahead. But it remained an ‘O’ level institution in 1960, towards independence, the school was granted ‘A’ Level thus becoming a full-fledged ‘A’ Level boarding school for boys.