The seven-member committee handed over the money to the headteacher, Boniface Ssebukalu, after dedication prayers for the Senior Six candidates on Saturday October 24, officiated by Fr Anthony Musaala of the Kampala Archdiocese.
Parents of Senior Six students at Seeta High School Mukono Campus have raised sh3m to help a colleague’s daughter sit the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations after her mother’s business was affected by evictions linked to a trade order enforcement exercise early this year.
The student, whose name has been withheld to protect her privacy, was struggling to clear her school dues after her mother’s business was affected by the evictions, leaving her unable to raise the required fees despite the student’s good academic performance.
Ruth Nabayego Norah Tukahirwa, the chairperson of the Senior Six parents’ committee, said the parents intervened after learning that the student risked missing the examinations she had worked towards for seven years.
“Having moved together as parents for the past seven years, class by class, we felt her pain when we realised that she was about to miss the golden opportunity to sit the examinations she had worked for, including the COVID-19 period,” Nabayego said.
“We raised the matter on our parents’ platform and agreed to help. I am happy that we have handed over sh3m to the school administration, and the student will now sit her examinations without that worry,” she added.
The seven-member committee handed over the money to the headteacher, Boniface Ssebukalu, after dedication prayers for the Senior Six candidates on Saturday October 24, officiated by Fr Anthony Musaala of the Kampala Archdiocese.
During his homily, Fr. Musaala commended the parents for turning up in large numbers to pray for their children, saying their presence demonstrated commitment to their academic and spiritual well-being.
“Your faith will help these candidates emerge victorious. Your presence also means you have given them parental blessings, and we pray that God helps them succeed when the results are released in February 2027,” he said.
Musaala, accompanied by the school’s Catholic chaplain, Fr Peter Ntege, and the Muslim chaplain, led prayers for the candidates, who knelt before the altar. The students were later sprinkled with holy water.
The candidates also entertained their parents, teachers and school administrators with dances and other presentations as they expressed gratitude for the support they had received throughout their studies.
Parents reward top performers
Beyond supporting the struggling student, the parents’ committee rewarded top-performing candidates in the mock examinations with sh100,000 each to cater for their upkeep during the examination period.
At least five students who scored more than 18 points qualified for the cash support. They included Elijah Kitiibwa, who offers Physics, Technical Drawing, Mathematics and ICT; Pedro Ndemere, who takes Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and ICT; Vivian Rajji, who also offers Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and ICT; and Martha Nafula, who takes Geography, Economics, Technical Drawing and ICT.
The committee also rewarded the four class teachers with sh500,000 each in recognition of their contribution to preparing the candidates.
Nabayego said the support was part of the parents’ commitment to ensuring that the students and their teachers remained motivated throughout the examination period.
“This is just the beginning. We hope to do even better during the thanksgiving after the results are released. We plan to give electronic appliances to the best students as they prepare to join university, and the teachers will also receive more,” she said.
School confident of good results
Ssebukalu commended the parents’ committee for its consistent involvement in monitoring the welfare and academic progress of the students.
He said the committee regularly visited the school, interacted with students to assess how teachers were handling them and engaged teachers on their work.
“On a monthly basis, the committee would come to school, meet the students and hear from them about how teachers were handling them. They would also meet the teachers. We appreciate their resilience, and I am sure that if we register the success we have always worked for, they will have played a major role,” he said.
Ssebukalu expressed optimism that the school would perform well when the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) releases the UACE results in February 2027.
He said the campus had prepared 344 candidates for the examinations, which are scheduled to begin on November 9.
On the opening day, candidates will sit either History Paper One or Principal Mathematics Paper One in the morning, followed by History Paper Two or Principal Mathematics Paper Two in the afternoon.
