ADJUMANI, UGANDA: Biyaya Secondary School which has circumnavigated from jua kali (roadside) status and wantonly denounced and branded as Kote lali a Madi dialect meaning reserved for fools; now stands out to be counted amongst the academic powerhouses in the West Nile region as it celebrates 25 years of realism.
A few like-minded young teachers in Adjumani decided to venture into opening the space of secondary education in November 1997,10 years after relative peace returned to the parts of the West Nile region following liberation wars in Uganda that started in 1979 and ended in 1986 when NRM/A captured state power.
Briefing district leaders and parents during the Jubilee celebration held at the school garden on Monday July 24, 2023, the headteacher Mr Dradi William detailed that during the initiation stage, the community outlook and that of leaders was negative, “we were portrayed as young and largely inexperienced unemployed teachers who were desperately bidding to eke out a living without a clear and definite endpoint”.
“We were prepared to face the risk of crumbling and mindful that fearing risk was worse than facing it, this philosophy helped us attain our dreams and today we remain witnesses of our own struggle and now we are in charge of our destiny. ,” Mr Dradi said.
The Bishop Madi, West Nile Diocese, His Lordship Andaku Collins Charles piles praise on the founding head teacher Mr Dradi William describing him as an exceptional head teacher, “I have traversed the country and upon drawing a comparison with other schools, he is a committed and God-fearing servant, for this reason, don’t temper with him”.
“He is a catholic and Biyaya is a Church of Uganda founded School but he is above religion, am as well above religion and willing to work with him so handle him with care”.
The bishop who delivered a sermon full of inspiration during the thanksgiving mass guided the students to be connected to God, and be obedient since blessings come from obeying God and the school administrations and parents while laying emphasis on hard work because no student can pass examinations through osmosis.
He cautioned the students against behaving like the biblical nine lepers’ who were healed by Jesus Christ but refused to appreciate him in the same vein he asked the learners to be appreciative of their parents for supporting their education.
The Adjumani district chairman Mr Anyama Ben the future of the learners is assured because they have been trained to cherish self and institutional discipline which is the reason the entire population in Adjumani town is treating them without contempt but with well-knitted discipline.
Mr Anyama said the students are punctual at school and never loiter in Adjumani town, unlike other schools that have let loose their students and are daily wandering in the streets of Adjumani town.
“What else could be the reason why in the 25 years of existence the school did not register any single strike it isn’t through witchcraft but by altruistic and farsightedly orchestrated design”. He observed.
Mr Anyama believes the administrative backup from the deputy headteacher in charge of administration Mr Anyugo Simon Nile who has trademarked a natural intermittent administrative skill combining pure commonsense, skilful administrative acumen with the much-needed boisterous joysticks and this is all he desired to win the hearts and minds of the learners.
The Ministry of Health and Sports desk-officer West Nile and Acholi sub-region Mr Ronald Dungu has divulged that the Ministry of Education Expansion project has earmarked Biyaya S.S for further development but one of the requirements is the availability of land which has been documented he advised the management to secure land titles or sign MOU with the bishop being the custodian of the land in the diocese.
He further said that Biyaya has been earmarked to be elevated to a centre of excellence a district support school where teachers will be wired to teach online which is a new learning strategy aimed at closing gaps where all the schools will join together through e-learning technology.
In 1998, Biyaya S.S registered 68 students but today the management is boasting of an amazing population of 1003 students with the highest registration of senior six candidates in the West Nile region,2497 students sat for UACE and 427 in UACE in the period spanning 25 years.
The school has intensively invested in games and sports amassing over 10 trophies in domestic, regional and national tournaments, the school has specifically excelled in ball games like football both boys and girls and netball midst others.
The school though has been predominantly operating on day basis plans to construct hostels so that students from distant locations will have to be accommodated in hostels even then the construction of a hostel comes with the land expansion plan which will allow for a series of infrastructure developments.
Construction of a 400-capacity ICT lab is in offing, the laboratory will be intentionally equipped with modern equipment and unlimited internet services to support the ongoing e-learning programs and other programs yet to be introduced.
Since there is no education system more than the teachers the school will tactically scale up supporting the upgrading of teachers to squarely meet the requirements of the changing curriculum and other dynamics in dealing with the learners.
A multi-million 1.000-seater multi-purpose hall, science laboratory and library and a plethora of teachers who are all contemporaries have combined well and built personnel which cannot be easily penetrated by saboteurs to pull away the school from the path and direction of academic and holistic evolution.
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