(This article was first published in the New Vision on June 15, 2022)
He Is Commended For Pacifying The Once Riotous Kisoro-Based School
By Stephen Nuwagira
Kabindi Secondary School is government-aided and was established in the 1980s. In fact, errant behaviour by staff and students had threatened to lead to the collapse of one of the oldest schools in Kisoro district by 2016.
Indiscipline among some staff and students, coupled with strikes at the mixed day school, were the norm. As a result, the community neighbouring the school lived in fear.
“The community would be surprised if a term ended without Kabindi students going on rampage,” one of the teachers says.
The indiscipline never spared the school infrastructure during strikes.
Many students spotted unkempt hairstyles and if a parent or any other person visited the school, they would be heckled by naughty students, Elly Mulindwanimana, the current director of studies, says.
However, Mulindwanimana says the dark days are over, with the last students’ strike having taken place in 2017. There has also been a big improvement in discipline. Mulindwanimana attributes this to efforts by Charles Sebagenzi, who was posted to the school as a deputy headteacher in February 2018.
Since March 2021, Sebagenzi has been the acting headteacher following the retirement of Christopher Rukirande (deceased).
“He joined hands with the then headteacher to forge a new direction for Kabindi,” Mulindwanimana says.
Residents and officials interviewed attributed the toxic culture at the school then to lack of co-operation among the top administrators, which students exploited.
There is now co-operation and goodwill among staff, school governing board and the parent-teacher association (PTA) leaders. This has inspired good relations with the community, enabling the school to pursue its academic exploits, says Dan Nuwe, the head of the Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda, Kisoro district chapter.
Sebagenzi says the school holds counselling and guidance sessions periodically to sensitise students about benefits of good conduct and dangers of bad bahaviour.
“We also engage parents to ensure that they follow up on what their children are doing,” he adds.
“With teacher absenteeism tamed, students are always too occupied to engage in misconduct.”
Transparent
Sebagenzi is also known for promoting transparency among staff and good governance practices.
The transparent financial management has endeared him to suppliers.
Mulindwanimana says when Sebagenzi took over last year, the school owed suppliers sh29m, which has since been reduced to sh11m.
“He does not want debts to accumulate and endeavours to pay suppliers right away. Our procurement is guided and he always advises against wasteful expenditure,” he adds.
Mulindwanimana says the headteacher also delegates duties and never interferes in activities of subordinates, including the buying of items such as stationery.
Academics, Numbers Improve
With a good relationship with the community and improved discipline, enrolment has increased to 713. Of these, 417 are girls
“Attracting more female learners has been achieved, thanks to the school’s community sensitisation drives on the importance of educating girls,” Sebagenzi explains.
Academic performance has also improved over the past five years, with Kabindi topping Universal Secondary Education schools in Kisoro district, after getting seven first grades in the 2020 Uganda Certificate of Education(UCE) exams. In 2019, only three learners passed in division one.
George Munyazikwiye, the PTA chairperson, says teachers are now more dedicated because they are paid their PTA allowances in time. He adds that there are also remedial lessons for semi-candidate and candidate classes, while all classes do monthly tests.
It is interventions like these that have helped to improve learning, Munyazikwiye says.
Good performers are always rewarded each term, while those who pass UCE well are given bursaries, Sebagenzi says.
The headteacher teaches commerce in Senior Four. In fact, the commerce department scooped an award after emerging among the best in the 2020 UCE exams.
Infrastructure
The PTA chairperson says the girls’ latrines and school furniture, which were in a sorry state, were recently repaired. He adds that during the COVID-19 lockdown, Sebagenzi convinced the PTA to buy water tanks. One of the tanks has a capacity of 10,000 litres. The tanks are crucial for the school situated in the water-stressed Nyarusiza sub-county.
“This will help us improve hygiene among learners and cut on water bills,” the headteacher explains.
Sebagenzi has initiated a project to build the first multi-purpose hall for the school, which learners will use as a dining hall and conference facility. Together with PTA, he has already set up a planning and implementation committee. To improve digital literacy, plans are underway to connect the school’s computers to the Internet.
Community Relations
Kabindi SS provides jobs to community members. The students participate in community activities.
“We recently provided free accommodation to Mothers’ Union members who were attending a three-day conference,” Sebagenzi says.
He says the community is allowed to fetch water from the school water tanks, especially during dry spells.
Additionally, selected learners from humble backgrounds pay for only lunch, about sh144,500 each. Bursaries are also offered to bright students from humble backgrounds.
Jolly Tukahirwa, the headteacher of Rwaramba Secondary School, says Sebagenzi supports school partnerships in the district.
He is the area supervisor of the UNEB centre. Tukahirwa says Sebagenzi is committed to his work, adding that whenever she has visited Kabindi SS, she has always found the headteacher at his workstation.
COVID-19 Interventions
During the lockdown, teachers carried out home visits to comfort students with a message of hope about reopening.
“We had to step in and provide this support to keep them on the right track,” Sebagenzi says.
“When the reopening of schools was announced, we convened a meeting with the parents to update them and also urge them to prepare ahead of time.
“When we reopened in January, counselling of students continued, given the fact that they had stayed at home for long and needed to be handled cautiously,” Sebagenzi says.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Kabindi girls were crowned district athletics champions in 2019, while the boys came second. The girls’ football team also won the John Kale Tournament in 2018.
The school promotes club activities, with debating, scouts and wildlife clubs as the most vibrant.
Challenges
The school has a limited number of computers, with seven of the 15 available considered outdated.
Kabindi also lacks enough library space and does not have a dining hall.
Students Speak Out
Yona Tumushime, Senior Six student
I have been at Kabindi since my Senior One, but things were not good back then. The new headmaster helped to put the school on the right track to recovery and academic excellence. He is also a good teacher and has a big heart for students.
Scovia Nyiransaba, Senior Four student
The headmaster does not tolerate teachers who dodge classes without a strong reason. This partly explains why academic performance is slowly improving.
