| Namilyango College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Namilyango, Mukono District, Uganda | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public Middle School and High School (8–13) |
| Motto | "Nisi Dominus" |
| Established | 1902 |
| Principal | Gerald Muguluma |
| Number of students | 1,010 |
| Athletics | Rugby, soccer, track, tennis, volleyball, basketball |
| Nickname | "NGO" "The College" "Anchors" |
| Website | Homepage |
Namilyango College is a boys-only boarding middle and high school located in Mukono District in Central Uganda.
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The school is situated on a lush green campus on Namilyango Hill, approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi), by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. It's approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), by road, southwest of Mukono, the district headquarters. Namilyango College is approximately 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi), by road, south of Seeta, the nearest trading center.
The school was opened on 23 March 1902, with 13 students, by the Mill Hill Missionaries, the first post-primary boarding school in Uganda. Namilyango College was started with a two-fold purpose: to train Catechists needed for evangelism and to educate the sons of chiefs. The aims and objectives of the school were summarized in the motto "Education for Responsibility", which was adopted to guide the students and teachers alike. Later, the motto "Nisi Dominus" was adopted to give the students a sense of religious devotion, in line with the strong Catholic foundation of the school. In what appeared to be a diversion from what was expected of a school or an institution with a strong Christian foundation, Bishop Hanlon emphasized the need and quest for a satisfactory system of free discipline. Bishop Hanlon emphasized that except during class hours, the boys would be without supervision, as that would positively contribute to the formation of their character. The school was aware that rigid supervision of the students' spare time activities would be detrimental to their character development. The school thus developed a liberal tradition at the very time of its inception, and 95 years later, the tradition has been maintained. And this tradition has, among other things, led to the establishment of the unique position of the school.
Barely after four years, the new school however began to be affected by changes. In September 1906, the catechists who constituted a certain percentage of the students in Namilyango, were transferred to another institution that had been created for that purpose. After this move, the school's name was changed to "Sacred Heart Namilyango High School". But the "Sacred Heart" was never popular. It never came out to be identified as the name of the school. Thus at that time, the school was largely known as "Namilyango High School".
In 1907, another change come about. Fr. Philip Jackson, the headmaster, was told that in addition to his duties as headmaster, he was also to take up duties as a Pastor of the area, an area later to become Namilyango Parish. This new arrangement meant new responsibilities for the headmaster, and meant that in effect, the school and the parish were to be inextricably linked. This arrangement was welcomed but was not permanent. Thus in September, 1912 the parish was once again separated from the school, each with its own head.
In August 1929, the Brothers of Christian Instruction order (The Kisubi Brothers) took over the school and named it 'St. Aloysius College.' However, after three years, the Mill Hill Fathers took it over again in 1932, under Fr. P. Preyde.
For along time afterward the school was subjected to many changes occasioned by the government and the church policies. For example, government introduced a new system of naming schools whereby secondary boarding schools were to be called colleges. Thus, the school became Namilyango College.
During 1941–1945, new dormitories were built and enrollment rose to 125 students in 1945. In 1943 earlier on, the school had been chosen as one of the self governing schools of the Protectorate under the terms of The Thomas Report. In the same year, Cadet Corps and Boxing Clubs started.
For the period that the school existed, it became literary engrossed in the national and regional affairs of the country. Between 1902, and the eve of Uganda's independence, Namilyango College had already carved out a name for itself, as one of the most prominent educational institutions in the country. Towards independence, many of the students who had passed through the school had occupied important positions in the civil service, society and pre-independence politics. While many of the schools in Uganda today were just starting, Namilyango College had gone at least one step ahead. But it remained an 'O' level institution. In 1960, two years before National Independence, the school was granted 'A' Level status, thus becoming a fully-fledged 'A' Level boarding school for boys.[1][2]
Namilyango College is among the most prestigious schools in Uganda, owing to its excellent academic performance and dominance in sports disciplines. For long, it was the best school in boxing, until the sport was stopped in the school in the early 1990s. Rugby union is the biggest sport in the College. Namilyango has won the national schools' rugby title more than any other school, and this is reflected by the numbers of players it has sent on to the national team.[3] In 2003, Namilyango College was rated the 65th best high school on the African continent.[4] Namilyango College was a pioneer in Information Technology in Ugandan schools, building one of the first computer labs.[5]
Over the years a tradition of Namilyango College has been the rivalries with fellow prestigious schools, in Academics, Sports and socialising. The rivals have included, in decreasing order of rivalry: St. Mary's College Kisubi, King's College Budo and Busoga College Mwiri. In recent times the bad blood has been with Budo and SMACK (Kisubi) for the Rugby honours, as Namilyango has won four (4) schools' championships in the last six (6) years, compared to one (1) each for their rivals. On the other hand the school has maintained cordial relations with schools like: Gayaza High School, Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga and Trinity College Nabbingo.
The College has ten residential houses and a hostel. The "O" Level students reside in the residential houses while the "A" Level students reside in Minderop Hostel, named after Father Minderop, the first Headmaster of the College. The ten residential houses are:
Former students of Namilyango College are called Old Ngonians. Some of the prominent alumni of the school include:[6]
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