Authorities at Kanjuki Secondary School, once a top performer in Kayunga District, are struggling to revive the 42-year-old institution amid crumbling infrastructure and dwindling enrolment.
The Church of Uganda-founded school in Kayunga Sub-county was among the best in Greater Mukono in the mid-2000s, with enrolment peaking at 1,500 learners.
Mr Andrew Nsereko, who took over as head teacher at the end of first term, blames the decline on conflicts among past administrators.
‘The decline of this school has been gradual. There has been a lot of intrigue and infighting between past head teachers and parents, teachers and members of the Board of governors,’ Mr Nsereko explains.
He adds: ‘Kanjuki SS has for some time been the Ukraine of Europe. A week before I took over office, the chairperson board of governors, Ms Sarah Nansubuga resigned her position at the height of infighting and conflicts.’
The head teacher says the wrangles damaged the school’s image, pushing parents to take their children elsewhere. Enrolment now stands at about 300.
With fewer learners and poor financial management, Mr Nsereko says meeting running costs has become difficult. ‘Little fees collections because of the small number of learners coupled with poor financial mismanagement, we are finding it hard to renovate the dilapidated infrastructures like classrooms, pit latrines and dormitories,’ he says.
He notes that infrastructure built for 1,500 students now lies unused. ‘When I was posted to this school, I found that most parents want to pay school fees in kind. Parents say they want to supply cassava in exchange for school fees. Additionally, the bursary scheme had badly been abused. I found that almost every member of staff had a student under bursary scheme and I tried to streamline how bursaries are given,’ the former Mukono High deputy head teacher says.
Security is another challenge. ‘We want to build a perimeter wall around the school, but we lack the financial resources to do so even when the ministry wants us to implement that,’ he says. Burglary incidents have been reported due to the lack of a fence.
Despite low numbers, Mr Nsereko says academic performance remains vibrant because the school still has committed teachers, though they are not enough.
New Board of Governors chairperson Mr Moses Mukeera says the fall was avoidable.
‘The problem with Kanjuki SS is that those who were in administration failed to address its challenges well, which led to its near collapse,’ Mr Mukeera says.
He adds that the BOG has met stakeholders including Mukono Diocesan leaders, parents and district officials to chart a revival path. ‘We want the B.O.G to pass a resolution asking the government to enroll the school under the Universal Secondary Education programme as one way of attracting more learners because most parents in the area are peasants who cannot afford the high tuition fees,’ he says.
Kayunga District senior education officer Mr Ronald Mukiibi backs the proposal. ‘The school needs a stable administration to attract more learners. The emergence of many secondary schools in the Kanjuki SS’ catchment area has also affected our enrolment. My advice to the school management is to ask government to enroll it under USE programme,’ Mr Mukiibi says.
Dr Dan Bubaale, the district education officer, urges the new head to unite stakeholders.
‘The school has the potential to get more students given the many primary schools in its catchment area,’ Dr Bubaale says. Since its establishment, the school has had five head teachers.
District records show Kayunga has 1,776 government primary teachers in 167 schools and 400 teachers in 13 government secondary schools, plus 236 private primary and 19 private secondary schools.