My former primary school, from where I earned the only First Grade in the entire sub county, no longer exists. The land that once housed its classrooms is now occupied by a fuel station, following a crisis it was ill-prepared to handle. In 2007, officials from an organisation approached the school management with what appeared to be a life changing opportunity.
They promised to connect the school to international donors to support infrastructure development, exchange programmes, and even pay fees for learners. To establish credibility, the organisation introduced another beneficiary school in Mukono, with which we held debating competitions, board games, and other activities that built rapports among learners and school leaders. The only requirement was Shs50,000 subscription fee per learner.
Many parents embraced the idea and paid for their children. Funds were handed over to the intermediaries, who promised to return once numbers increased, to allow donors plan properly. They never returned, their phones went off, and the promised donor support never materialised. The school management was left in a dire situation. They had to compensate parents for the lost money. Then, School fees ranged between Shs15,000 and Shs30,000, meaning some students had to study for a year without paying fees. The financial burden crippled operations. Teachers went unpaid, resources dwindled, and within a few years, the institution collapsed, partly because of their inability to manage this crisis.
While this scam occurred nearly two decades ago, the crises facing educational institutions, from universities to daycare centres today, is even more complex. The rise of digital communication means crises spread faster and attract greater public scrutiny than ever before. Crisis management data compiled by AMW indicate that nearly three-quarters of organisations have experienced reputational incidents, underscoring the reality that crises are no longer exceptional occurrences. Every institution, regardless of size, should expect and prepare for potential crises. Many crises rotate around student welfare, fire outbreaks, deaths, disease outbreaks, strikes, security concerns, among others, which affect public trust. Fortunately, some higher institutions manage them through public relations offices.
The challenge becomes more pronounced in secondary and primary schools, where communication responsibilities often fall entirely on head teachers, proprietors, or other administrators who may have little or no training in crisis communication. In many cases, panic becomes the first response, triggering issuance of contradictory statements, avoid engagement with key stakeholders, or failure to communicate, which often damages institutional reputation more than the incident itself. Many school leadership structures position the head teacher as the face and voice of the institution, expected to comment on everything, from academic performance to crises. However, majority lack basic training in crisis communication.
As a result, schools often provide conflicting accounts of events, with different staff members speaking independently to the media before establishing a common understanding of what happened. Instead of convening a crisis management committee to assess the situation and agree on key messages, institutions sometimes react emotionally and defensively. I recently watched a news story about a school where a learner died mysteriously in a security guard’s room. It is the matron who spoke to the media while the head teacher went in hiding, and other staff members were attacking journalists to stop them from recording footage.
This incident highlighted institutions’ unpreparedness for communication challenges that involve crises. Previously, a school crisis would remain within the local community. Today, a single video, photo, or social media post can reach millions of people within seconds. While many schools face financial challenges to run communication departments, a crisis will not send a notification when coming. They can begin by investing in communication training for head teachers, deputies, and other key admins, establish crisis response committees, develop communication protocols, and prepare basic crisis management plans before emergencies occur.
Public relations practitioners and academic institutions can also support to design specialised crisis management training for school administrators. Schools invest years in building trust among parents, learners, staff, and communities. In today’s digital environment, that trust can be tested within hours. Crisis communication training is, therefore, no longer an optional leadership skill, but rather an essential component for building and maintaining reputation for learning institutions.