Number of pupils :  725  (320 boys & 405 girls)

School Motto :  The sky is the Limit

Magogo Secondary School is located close to two of our successful projects at Kawule and Kisadhaki Primary schools.   Indeed, both schools, plus two other primary schools, send pupils on to Magogo.  When we first visited in March 2010, Magogo was desperately in need of help.

This is a mixed day school with a young but willing head teacher, Francis Wavamuno, who himself as a boy had been a pupil at Kawule Primary School.  In 1999 the Catholic Church donated 1 acre and the community purchased 1.5 acres, bringing the total plot to 2.5 acres. When we arrived on a Saturday morning, in March 2010, they provided singing and dancing.  The event was supported by local leaders and the School Management Committee (SMC).  The head of the SMC was at the time the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga MP, the deputy speaker of the Ugandan Parliament.  They showed us their four classrooms, two were under trees, the third was constructed out of wooden poles and banana leaves and the fourth was constructed from mud and wood.  (See photos to the right).  The only permanent buildings were the Catholic Church and the three dilapidated latrines.

In October 2010 we started to build a 2.5 classroom block, including an office and storeroom. The community had already collected 30,000 burnt bricks, which was a fantastic achievement and these were used on the foundations.  (see photo right) The walls were constructed using our ISSB machine. You need an office in order to be registered to sit ‘O’level exams.  Previously the students had to go to Bupadhengo Secondary School.  We have also provided a water tank attached to the classrooms, to collect the rain water.  Their closest bore hole was 1.5kms away until HvSMF donated a borehole in 2016.

The head teacher was trying to get the school to become part of the Government’s Universal Secondary Education (USE). This was necessary if the school was to survive. In Uganda the teachers in secondary school are paid from the funds received per pupil from the Government, once part of the USE system. Francis completed the registration stage in June 2012. He then needed to complete the application stage. This was done by completing the paper work and then several visits to Kampala talking to the right people who can assist. It was not an easy process even though he was being assisted by another of our secondary school heads.

By 2019 the Government’s USE programme ceased and there were no more funds being distributed. Magogo now needs to become part of the much-coveted Government Grant Aided (GGA) scheme. The government is slowly (100 schools per annum) rolling out a scheme to take over one government school in each subcounty, as recommended by the subcounty local government. Grant aid is for the provision of teachers’ wages and students’ capitation grants but does not include development of infrastructure.

Magogo MUST put together all paperwork and be proactive if they are to become part of this scheme. HvSMF’s last donation to the school in 2023 was for the construction of 2 x classrooms for A’Levels which will hopefully assist with their application. The school commenced A’levels in 2024.

This is a school that has been transformed over the past 14 years, thanks to the assistance from HvSMF, and also the dedication of the head teacher. We hope Francis succeeds in Magogo SS becoming part of the GGA scheme, which he so richly deserves.