Comboni School’s turnaround: How leadership and discipline drove six years of strong results

Comboni Comprehensive College Secondary School in Adjumani has registered sustained academic improvement over the last six years, a turnaround that school administrators attribute to deliberate leadership, staff commitment, and a focus on discipline and welfare.

The head teacher of Comboni Secondary School, Yeka George Koma, said he took charge of the school in 2017 at a time when performance was at its lowest.

“When I joined the school in 2017, the 2016 results were very poor. We did not have a single Division One candidate, and only three students made Division Two,” Koma said.

He explained that the administration immediately convened management and staff meetings to reorganise the school, identifying key areas for reform. These included syllabus coverage, student discipline, teachers’ welfare, and overall student welfare.

According to Koma, improving teachers’ morale was central to the recovery.

“We worked on boosting the morale of teachers and improving their welfare. Once teachers are motivated, they become committed. At Comboni, we emphasise commitment and self-motivation,” he said.

The impact was almost immediate. In 2017, the school registered its first Division One results, a sharp contrast from the previous year. Since then, Koma said, Comboni has consistently posted strong results up to the end of the old curriculum.

In 2023, when the last cohort under the old curriculum sat for their examinations, the school recorded 17 Division One candidates. The best performer, a girl who scored an aggregate of 10, emerged among the best in the region and nationally.

The transition to the new lower secondary curriculum has also been encouraging. Koma said the first cohort performed strongly and, had results been graded fully under the old system, the school would have attained an estimated 36 Division One candidates.

“That performance placed us eighth in West Nile. For the last six years, no school has beaten us in Adjumani district,” he noted.

Although some results were withheld this year due to non-payment of school fees by several learners, an independent analysis by UNEB ranked Comboni among the top 1,000 schools nationally, placing it at position 858 — the only school from the district to appear on the list.

Koma credited the achievements to collective effort. “I thank the teachers, parents, and management for working tirelessly. The major reason for our success is the commitment of our teachers,” he said.

He added: “Unlike many schools that admit only high-performing pupils, Comboni admits learners up to Division Four, provided they are not ungraded. He cited the case of a boy admitted with an aggregate of 51, who later attained Division One in 2023 and has since completed Senior Six.

“We believe in nurturing potential. Performance can change with the right support,” Koma said.

Michael Apidra, a former student who has now become a parent, hails the school for its sustained performance in O-level, adding that since the school has started A-level he prays that the standard is maintained.

“During our time, the enrollment was good, but the performance was not comparable to the current one. I think a lot of things change, ranging from management and discipline of the students,” Apidra stated

Dominic Kobole, also a parent at Comboni, comments on the administration for the tremendous improvement and for being kind to parents.

“The administration is kind enough that, for parents who have not finished paying, they always allow them to sit. I was personally a beneficiary when I had a school fees balance of shs 400,000, my daughter was allowed to sit, and I paid after her exams,” Dominic said

“The management invests a lot in the discipline of the students, because without discipline, students can not perform.”