When this publication visited the school to obtain its side of the story, the deputy headteacher, Alfred Kalamya, asked the reporter to leave the premises and wait for the outcome of the meeting between the school administration and the parents.
A section of parents of Senior Four students at Mt. St. Henry’s High School Mukono have stormed the school protesting the indefinite suspension of their children over alleged misconduct committed during the school holidays while at their homes.
The parents argue that the school did not give them or their children a fair hearing before imposing what they consider an excessively harsh punishment, particularly because the alleged incidents occurred during the holidays when the students were under the care of their parents and not the school.
According to suspension letters seen by this publication, dated August 3, 2026 and signed on behalf of the headteacher, Teopista Nakalembe, the over 14 Senior Four students were accused of misconduct, including alleged use of illegal drugs, sharing pornographic videos and organising house parties, which the school considers gross misconduct.
“Following investigations into your conduct during the school holidays, it has been established that you engaged in behaviour that seriously misrepresented the good image and values of the school. The reported misconduct includes the use of illegal drugs, sharing pornographic videos, and organising house parties, all of which are considered gross misconduct,” part of the suspension letter reads.
The letters state that the students have been placed on indefinite suspension with immediate effect but will be allowed to sit their Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) examinations under strict conditions.
According to the letters, the affected students will have to commute from home for every examination paper and must be accompanied to and from the examination centre by a security officer. They are also required to report to the examination room 15 minutes before the start of each paper, accompanied by their security escort.
The school further stated that all outstanding school fees must be cleared before the students are allowed to sit the examinations, including day scholars’ fees amounting to sh1.29m.
“Failure to comply with the above conditions may result in being denied permission to sit the examinations,” the letters state.
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The parents, however, described the conditions as unfair and inconsiderate, arguing that the students were suspended before the end of the second term despite the school allegedly having learnt about the incidents earlier.
They also questioned why the school allegedly waited until the affected parents had cleared their children’s school fees before communicating the suspension.
One of the parents said the alleged incidents occurred outside the school premises and during the holidays, and therefore the parents should have been consulted before the school took disciplinary action.
“Having committed the offences during holidays, outside the school premises and not in school uniforms, those were cases meant to be handled by us, the parents. I wish the administration had contacted us before making a decision, instead of calling us to pick the children,” the parent said.
The parents also objected to the requirement that they pay the full day-scholar fees for a term in which their children will not attend classes.
They further questioned the requirement for security escorts during examinations, saying it could have a negative psychological impact on the affected students as they prepare for their final examinations.
“Asking for security escorts for each of the learners, are they criminals? Why would the school behave in a manner that is intended to affect our learners’ mental health, more so at this critical time as they prepare for their end-of-term examinations?” another parent asked.
The parents also claimed that some of the students were suspended merely because they were friends with students allegedly involved in the house parties, even though they did not attend the gatherings.
“They asked us to write letters asking for reduction of the punishments of our children, but I see that as unfair. Some of our children did not attend the alleged house parties but they were suspended just because they were friends with the culprits. That is not allowed,” one parent said.
The parents further accused the school administration of publicly embarrassing the affected students by calling them to a school assembly attended by over 2,000 learners.
They claimed that the students were made to line up before the assembly and were accused of indiscipline, including allegations that some of them did not know about.
“They called them ‘dancers of bimansulo’, but they are not. That was bad. The school acted outside the normal administrative procedures,” another parent said.
The parents also linked the alleged house parties to activities organised by the school itself, saying the school held a prom party for the candidates at the end of the first term, during which students wore expensive party clothes that parents had been asked to purchase. “They also had activities which was meant to be of couples of opposite sex, what was that teaching our children,” one parent asked.
They alleged that some students later attempted to imitate the activities from their homes during the holidays.
The parents, who had remained outside the school gate from about 11:00am until 2:30pm, were eventually allowed into the school to present their grievances.
However, they said the administration did not meet them as a group but instead listened to them individually.
The parents said they were asked to write individual letters seeking a reduction of the disciplinary measures imposed on their children.
When this publication visited the school to obtain its side of the story, the deputy headteacher, Alfred Kalamya, asked the reporter to leave the premises and wait for the outcome of the meeting between the school administration and the parents.
The school director, Mr Kasozi, when contacted by telephone, said he was not aware of the developments at the school, explaining that he is not one of its administrators.
The school’s position on the allegations and the parents’ concerns was therefore not immediately available.
