SOUTH RWENZORI DIOCESAN SCHOOLS

South Rwenzori Diocese has a very strong commitment to education. Our schools provide Bible study in addition to the normal courses of study.

Located in Southwestern Uganda, our diocese contains many small villages where poverty is the norm. Many families cannot afford to pay the rates for public schools, and so the diocese has stepped in to create schools to fill the gap. Fully qualified teachers are employed, and each school has an average enrollment of around 500 students.

South Rwenzori Diocese has 125 primary schools and 7 secondary schools, one nursing and midwifery school at Kagando Hospital, and one Bible College as Kisinga. There are two elementary carpentry workshops in Kilembe and Kasese. These institutions have been founded by different congregations of the diocese. The church does some pastoral ministry, management and supervisory work in these institutions. They are centres of evangelisation for both learners and teachers/instructors.

As Education Secretary of the diocese, and with the help of various church leaders, headteachers and teachers, we have been carrying out a number of activities in these institutions of learning which include, among others:

  1. Praying with the children
  2. Sharing God's word and other messages with pupils/learners an teachers. This is aimed at shaping their spiritual and moral lives.
  3. Holding meetings with school teachers to encourage them to give quality education.
  4. Meeting parents of school children to educate them on their roles.
  5. Training and supervising teachers in using slates (boards).
  6. Educationg congregations on current issues, such as birth control, need to work, and drug abuse.
  7. We have held three workshops in three different areas in May and June of 2009.
  8. We had a meeting for head teachers on the 3rd of June, 2009.
  9. We had a seminar for school clergy and their spouses. 38 participants attended.
Among the youth and students, we have held some conferences in a number of parishes, such as Ibanda, Maliba, Cathedral, Kibirigha, Katwe, Kinyamaseke, Kerambi, Nyakahya, and Kyanyiki, since January of 2009. These are aimed at guiding the hyouth in facing the challenges of their time.

Our major challenges are a lack of finances to facilitate our activities, a high school dropout rate, absenteeism in schools, lack of teachers' accommodation near schools, which leads to teachers arriving at school late, lack of enough slates (boards) and chalk in schools, child abuse by some parents and some teachers, high population growth rate, and long droughts leading to food shortage, drug abuse, just to mention a few. We need a lot of support of every kind to address these and many other issues in our communities.

Education Uganda Project

Education Uganda is a registered charity based in Hampshire, UK, and formed in 2006. Its trustees are mainly experienced educationalists whose primary aim is to improve primary education in Uganda by the use of individual blackboards, known in Uganda as slates.

Following an initial fact finding visit in summer 2005, a group of Hampshire teachers worked in a teacher training college and four selected model Ugandan schools in the summer of 2007 to develop the use of the individual blackboards and to train Ugandan teachers in their use. In just 4 weeks they trained over 200 teachers representing 67 schools, and worked directly using the blackboards with over 1400 pupils, up to 350 per day in each of the four model schools. This venture was hugely successful, and in the short time since they left, the use of blackboards has grown, along with the enthusiasm of teachers and pupils alike. Reports sent regularly from the Ugandan project coordinator report major successes.

For more information, click here, or visit the official web site of the project.

Vocational Schools

Kagando School of Nursing

The Kagando School of Nursing and Midwifery opened in 1997.

The terms used below are as follows:

  • Senior Nursing Officer (A Matron; trained as midwife and is a Registered Nurse.)
  • Registered Nurse (Sometimes called Sister) [Course is 4 years; but can take 3 years if enrollment directly follows A-level, or Senior 6, graduation.]
  • Registered Mental Nurse (Registered nurse, specially trained in psychiatric care)
  • Nursing Officer (Works in the office of the Matron.)
  • Nursing Aid / Nursing Assistant (Trained on the job for 3 years, following which one is certified.)
  • Nutrition Worker (A Nursing Aid, specially trained to teach patients about nutrition.)
  • Enrolled Nurse (Not yet registered; only has certificate)
  • Enrolled Midwife [Course is 4 years, but can take 3 years if enrollment directly follows A-level, or Senior 6, graduation.]
  • Laboratory Attendant/Assistant [At Kagando, training takes 3 years; following which one is certified.]
  • Secretary
  • Cleaner

Some of the nursing staff at Kagando Hospital are supported by funds donated by the Mary and Martha Circle of St Peter's Anglican Church in Tallahassee, Florida, USA.

These nurses often have large families, and support additional people on small salaries, and support from others is needed and very much appreciated. If you would like to contribute to the support of Kagando Nurses, contact the Diocesan Office by email at srdiocese@gmail.com and we will send the necessary information to you.

Colleges

Only one higher level school has been established in the Diocese so far -- Kisinga Divinity School is located in Kisinga, Uganda.