Namilyango College

Namilyango College
Location
Namilyango, Mukono District
Uganda
Coordinates 0°20′19″N 32°43′02″E / 0.33861°N 32.71722°ECoordinates: 0°20′19″N 32°43′02″E / 0.33861°N 32.71722°E
Information
Type Public Middle School and High School (8–13)
Motto "Nisi Dominus"
Established 23 March 1902[1]
Headteacher Gerald Muguluma
Number of students 1,010 (2014)
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, whose history and excellence in sports and academics have made it one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda.[2]

Location

The school campus is situated on Namilyango Hill, approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), by road, southwest of Mukono, the district headquarters,[3] and about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi), by road, south of the township of Seeta, the nearest trading center. The college lies approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi), by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[4] The coordinates of Namilyango College are:0°20'19.0"N, 32°43'02.0"E (Latitude:0.338611; Longitude:32.717222).

History

The beginning

The school was opened on 23 March 1902, with 13 students, by the Mill Hill Missionaries, and was the first post-primary boarding school in Uganda. Namilyango College was started with a two-fold purpose: to train Catechists 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 students and teachers alike. Later, the motto "Nisi Dominus" was adopted in line with the Catholic foundation of the school.

Under Bishop Hanlon, the school's founder, the school emphasized a system of free discipline. During class hours, the boys would be without supervision. Hanlon felt that the rigid supervision of the students' spare time activities would be detrimental to their character development. The school thus developed a liberal tradition at the time of its inception, and 112 years later, the tradition has been maintained.[5]

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", although the school was generally known as "Namilyango High School".

In 1907, Father Philip Jackson, the headmaster, was appointed the pastor of Namilyango Parish. This new arrangement meant that the school and the parish were inextricably linked. In September, 1912 the parish was once again separated from the school, each with its own head.

The middle years

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 Father P. Preyde. The school became known as Namilyango College after the government introduced a new system of naming schools whereby secondary boarding schools were to be called colleges. During 1941–1945, new dormitories were built and enrollment rose to 125 students in 1945. In 1943 the school was chosen as one of the self-governing schools of the Uganda Protectorate under the terms of The Thomas Report. In the same year, the Cadet Corps and Boxing Clubs started.

Towards independence, many of the students who had passed through the school occupied important positions in the civil service, society and pre-independence politics. 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.[6]

Reputation

Namilyango College is one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda, owing to its history, influence, excellent academic performance and dominance in sports. It is the oldest secondary school in Uganda, and for long was the best school in boxing until the sport was stopped in the school in the early 1990s. Rugby is the biggest sport in the College. Namilyango has won the national schools' rugby title more than any other school, and has sent numerous players to the national team. Namilyango College was a pioneer in Information Technology in Ugandan schools, building one of the first computer labs.[7]

Rivalries

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 five schools' championships in the last eight years - including the 2012 Championship, compared to one, 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.[8]

Academics

Subjects offered at "O" Level include:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Christian Religious Education
  • Commerce
  • Computer Studies
  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • Fine Art
  • French Language
  • Geography
  • History
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Political Education
  • Technical Drawing

At "A" Level, subjects offered are categorised into Arts and Sciences. The Arts subjects offered are:

  • History
  • Economics
  • Divinity
  • French Language
  • Literature in English
  • Geography
  • Fine Art

The Science subjects offered are:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Technical Drawing

Subsidiary Mathematics and General Paper are compulsory subjects and students are required to choose one to offer with their three chosen Arts or Sciences subjects.

Houses of Residence

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 James Minderop (MHM), the first Headmaster of the College. The ten residential houses are:

  1. Biermans House - Named after Bishop John Biermans (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1912 - 1924
  2. Billington House - Named after Bishop Vincent Billington (MHM) (1904 - 1976), Bishop of Kampala 1953 - 1965
  3. Campling House - Named after Bishop John William Campling (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1925 - 1937
  4. Doyle House - Named after Rev. Fr. Captain Bernard Doyle (MHM), the longest serving Headmaster (19 years) of the College
  5. Hanlon House - "House of Lords", named after Bishop Henry Hanlon (MHM) 1862 - 1937, Vicar Apostolic of Upper Nile 1894 - 1911
  6. Kiwanuka House - Named after Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, the first native African to be appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in East Africa
  7. Kuipers House - Named after Father Bernard Kuipers (MHM), served the College for 30 years as teacher, Headmaster, and Chaplain
  8. McKee House - Named after Father Kevin McKee (MHM), a teacher at the College
  9. Mukasa House - Named after Mr. Noah Mukasa, a former Biology teacher at the College
  10. Reensich House - Named after Bishop John Reesinck (MHM), Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1938 - 1950
  11. Heweston House - Named after one of the former headmasters of the school.[1]

Prominent alumni (Old Ngonians)

Former students of Namilyango College are called Old Ngonians, and include a Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, clergymen, members of the royal family of Buganda, Judges, lawyers, academics and sportsmen Some of the prominent alumni of the school include:

Royals

Politics

The Church

Law

Civil Service

Academics

Writers

Sports

Other

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vision Reporter, . (19 March 2015). "Namilyango College To Mark 113th Anniversay". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Tegulle, Gawaya (23 March 2012). "Namilyango College: 110 Years of Excellence". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Map Showing Mukono And Namilyango With Distance Marker". Globefeed.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Travel Distance Between Kampala And Namilyango With Map". Globefeed.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Early History of Namilyango College". Namilyango College. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "About Namilyango College". Namilyango College. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. ↑ John Semakula, Henry Nsubuga (17 July 2013). "Muguluma: Namilyango’s Pillar". New Vision. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Trinitus Anchor: Namilyango College Hosts Trinity College Nabbingo For A Social Afternoon". Namilyango College. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Chronological Order of Makerere University Principals And Vice Chancellors 1970 - 2012
  10. ↑ Matovu, Frank (3 March 2005). "I Will Pay Mbekeka's University Fees". New Vision (Kampala). Retrieved 19 March 2015.

External links