(This article was first published in the New Vision on August 10, 2022)
By Abdulkarim Ssengendo
When Nathan Mugume was deployed to head Mbarara Junior School in 2008, it was fighting seven cases in court. The school had been dragged to court by persons it owed sh236m in unpaid arrears for services they supplied to it.
Partly due to the financial troubles, the pupil population at an institution that produced some prominent Ugandans, such as Gen. Salim Saleh, Col (rtd) Kiiza Besigye, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Justice Kenneth Kakuru, Okello Oryema and John Nasasira, had fallen to 400. It is this falling enrolment that partly made it difficult for the school to raise enough money to pay its debts.
“The school had borrowed money from lenders and failed to pay. It had not paid teachers for months,” Mugume says.
Realising that court battles were counterproductive and could lead to the collapse of the school, Mugume devised a strategy to resolve the disputes out of court.
He says his decision sought to achieve two purposes — to save the reputation of the school and prevent further financial troubles as court battles could have ended in fines and other costs, on top of orders to the school to pay its debts.
Mugume says the people the school owed gave it two years to pay them. He says he then embarked on rebuilding the reputation of the school and attracting more pupils to it to raise the money to clear the debts. The school now has 2,200 pupils and 118 employees, including 65 teachers. In 2008, the school, had 32 employees.
Building Relationships
Mugume says he marketed the school by forging relationships with parents, the Anglican Church, local governments and other schools, such as Mbarara High. He also appealed for support from the school’s stakeholders.
“Some of them provided money, food and sports equipment,” Mugume says.
With contributions from the community and school fees, Mugume has changed the face of the 111-year-old institution by renovating and constructing new buildings, including a four-storey classroom block comprising 16 classrooms, sanitary facilities, an administration block, six dormitories, a bakery and teachers’ houses.
He says building these facilities cost sh4.5b, raised mainly from parents’ contributions through the Parents Teachers Association (PTA). The PTA is one the platforms Mugume has exploited to forge good relations with parents.
During PTA meetings, Mugume says he gives accountability to the parents and solicits their support to run the school effectively. President Yoweri Museveni, who launched the installation of the CCTV cameras around the school in 2019, hailed Mugume for his leadership.
Regaining Its Former Glory
The school, which was struggling 14 years ago like many institutions under the universal primary education (UPE) programme, is recovering its glory. In 2021, it was the tenth best UPE school in the country. It has also been ranked among the top performing schools in the country over the past 10 years.
For example, in 2020, all its candidates passed — 186 in Division One and 48 in Division Two. In 2019 and 2018, all candidates passed — 307 in Division One and 91 in Division Two.
In 2006, the school had 52 candidates in Division One and Two out of 148, and in 2007, only 48 passed in Division One and Two out of 176 candidates, according to the school records. None of the school’s candidates has passed in Division Three over the past 10 years, Mugume says.
He attributes the performance to the motivation and teamwork he has cultivated among teachers, as well as his relationship with parents and constant appeal to the learners to work hard and excel. Mugume also shares parenting tips with parents on social media platforms, to equip them with skills for raising children.
Under his leadership, the school also excels in co-curricular activities. In 2018 and 2019, the school emerged fourth and fifth, respectively, in the national music, dance and drama (MDD) competition. In 2017, the school got the seventh position in the same competitions.
Mugume says over the past years, the school has been winning MDD competitions in the western region because he has actively mobilised funds for the team and encouraged students to participate in co-curricular activities.
Environmental Conversation
In 2017, the school received an award from the National Environmental Management Authority for planting 10,000 eucalyptus trees and flowers on its land and filtering its wastewater before discharging it into River Rwizi.
Between May 2020 and March 2021, Mugume says he facilitated teachers who provided 236 households with learning materials for the pupils during the COVID-19 lockdown. He adds that messages were sent to parents’ phones inviting them to pick learning materials from the school.
Mugume says he kept in touch with the parents and encouraged them to support their children to continue learning during the lockdown. When schools reopened early this year, he says he conducted workshops to equip teachers with skills to counsel and guide learners who had been out of school for two years. He adds that all pupils returned to school when it reopened partly because he kept in touch with parents and had created a suitable learning environment for the children.
Last year, Mugume said he worked with teachers to compress the syllabuses of some classes into one in preparation for the school reopening.
“We merged the syllabuses for Primary Two and Three so that children who joined Primary Three when schools reopened after skipping Primary Two did not feel like they had missed something,” he adds
Innovations
mugume says he mobilised the community members to donate masks and sanitisers in order to prevent children from contracting and spreading the coronavirus, as well ask keep the school open. He also mobilised the school’s employees to get vaccinated against the virus to protect themselves and the children.
In 2018, he invested sh12m in installing solar power in dormitories to cut power bills. Early this year, Mugume set up a bakery at the school at sh72m. He says before this, the school spent sh4m per week on the bread that the children have for breakfast.
The school now spends sh2.7m per week on ingredients for making bread. Mugume says he encourages the pupils to take part in the baking process so they can learn the skill.
He says the 100,000 litre capacity water tanks he constructed in 2015 help the school cut expenses on this resource by sh3m per month during the rainy seasons.
What Others Say
John Agaba, Chairperson, School Management Committee
Mugume is incomparable. He is a professional and a transformative leader. He takes good care of the pupils and teachers. The school is overflowing with pupils.
Dr Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa, Bishop, Ankole Diocese
He is a distinguished teacher and has turned around a school which almost collapsed due to debts. It is one of the leading schools in discipline, performance, enrolment, infrastructural development and co-curricular activities.
Provia Kabeho, Teacher
He is very committed and hardworking. EDSON KAPARAGARA, TEACHER He loves quality works and hates disorganisation. He loves hardworking people.
Golden Tips
- Thank parents for enrolling children in the school
- Be committed to your job
- Strive for excellence
- Thank the institutions that support your school
- Take good care of your children
Fact File
- 1974-1981: Nombe and Ruhindi Boys’ Primary School
- 1982-1986: St Augustine Primary Teachers College (Grade 2)
- 1988-Rwentanga Primary Teachers College (Grade 3)
- 1988-1995: Started teaching at Mbarara Junior School
- 1989-1993: Kakoba National Teachers’ College (Grade 5)
- 1995-2007: Teacher, Bishop Stuart Demonstration School
- 1999-2002: Bachelor’s degree in education, Makerere University
- 2004-2006: Master’s degree in education management, Kampala International University
- 2007-2008: Deputy headteacher, Mbarara Municipal School
- 2008 to date: Headteacher, Mbarara Junior School
Leave feedback about this