Why did the government close Masindi Academy SS?

Masindi Municipality authorities, with guidance from the government through the Ministry of Education and Sports, have closed Masindi Academy Secondary School in Masindi Municipality.

The authorities cite illegal operations and poor sanitation.

The school was closed on Friday by Samuel Peter Ayebale, the Principal Education Officer of Masindi Municipality, accompanied by other officials from the municipality and the Ministry of Education and Sports headquarters in Kampala.

Addressing students and teachers at the school premises, Ayebale revealed that the inspector of the school revealed several issues, including failure by the school directors to pay teachers.

The above, Ayebale said, prompted teachers to go on strike. He noted that the school was operating an illegal boarding section, with poor sanitation and poor welfare of the students.

Ayebale also cited failure by the school administration to register Senior Four candidates with Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) and to submit their continuous assessment marks to UNEB, among other reasons.

Francis Kyamanywa from the Directorate of Education Standards in the Ministry of Education and Sports described the situation at the school “as serious and could not be tolerated.”

Kyamanywa said they have directed the school directors to keep the senior four candidates for one week to allow them to get registered for their final examination with UNEB.

Sean Paul Okot, a former student of the school who completed Senior Six last year, said he has camped at the school for a month waiting for his results. He has yet to receive them from the directors.

The school had a total of 103 students at the time of closure.

Last week, 46 Senior Four candidates stormed the office of Masindi Resident District Commissioner seeking his intervention after accusing the school director of failing to register them with UNEB for their final examinations. 

The school was started in 1993 by Steven Kazimura Biriija, and it was the second private school in Masindi district.

It was among the prominent schools in Bunyoro before it was sold by Biriija, the former director of Excel Schools, before fleeing to exile in 2008.

Before its closure, the school was owned by a former Bujenje County MP, Kabakumba Masiko.

Efforts to get a comment from the school resident director, Abdu Musa, on the matter were futile as he could not answer our calls at the time of filing this story.