[July 06, 2011] War, Cattle Rustling Took a Toll On Teso College Tweet Jul 06, 2011 (New Vision/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- It is early morning. The bright sun ushers us into an equally bright but silent compound of Teso College Aloet (TCA). Nobody is outside except for a bicycle and motorcycle parked under a tree. It is holiday time. In their offices, administrators are working as if it is a normal school day. As we wait, we take a look around the school. Most classrooms and laboratories seem deserted. The library has furniture and books. The doors are rotting and the asbestos roofs are rusted. The challenge Our tour is cut short with the announcement that the headmaster, Sylvester Ocaatum, is ready to see us. "It is a very busy time for me. TCA has suffered a lot and we are working hard to revive it," he explains, signing a voucher, authorising his procurement team to buy paint and window panes to rehabilitate the school. He says 99% of the laboratories do not have equipment, the Library does not have enough books and most classrooms have no furniture. According to Ocaatum, although the school is improving, its academic standard is still low. At one time, the school population dwindled from 1,300 students to only about 600 students. From 1989 to 2004, it sent only six students to university on government sponsorship. From 1986 to 1997, the school had less than 20 first grades in S.4 out of over 200 students. First grades increased to about 50 in 2000 to 2002 but fell to about 40 between 2003 and 2004 - out of over 200 students, when Joseph Kony Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), attacked the area. Nestled in the flat plains of Soroti, overlooking the former East African Flying School, on Moroto Road, TCA stands on over 1,000 acres of land, divided by Moroto Road into two wings. There is the Western Wing - which houses S.1 and S.2 students and the Eastern Wing, which houses S.3 to S.6 students. a. Founded in 1954 but officially opened in 1956 by the Teso Local Government and elders to educate their children as well as all Ugandans, Civil wars cripple the school Revered as an academic powerhouse for close to seven decades, the institution last appeared among the best five schools in Uganda in 1985. TCA has suffered a civil war that turned it into a battle field, a barracks and a camp for fighters and residents. Samuel Etadu, TCA's deputy headmaster, says the school first suffered from 1979 -1980 during the overthrow of presidents Idi Amin and Obote II's regimes. "Amin's soldiers camped here and destroyed books, used desks and our files to cook their food," says Etadu. As the dust of Amin's and Obote's soldiers was settling, the Karimojong cattle rustlers attacked Soroti, sending the population fleeing into the school for protection. "When things cooled down, the residents carried whatever they could, including beds, files, laboratory equipment and books from the library," he says. By the end of the civil war in 1990, TCA had less than 12 teachers for 400 students. It declined academically and was shunned by both students and parents from the rest of Uganda. Between 2000 and 2002, the school sent six students to university on government sponsorship. But in 2003 when the LRA raided the school and killed a teacher and a student, things went from bad to worse. There is hope In 2005, the school embarked on a recovery path by admitting as many capable students as soon as possible to reverse the numbers that would financially sustain it. The numbers increased from 600 to over 1,600 students. Although the quality of the students is not the best, it is a good start. In S.1, the cut-off point is 10 aggregates and in S.5, the cut-off aggregate is 29 for the best eight subjects. These have helped the school to improve from less than 20 first grades in S.4 in 2000 to over 80. Teso College is among the top 50 schools in Uganda and has increased its university admission from only six students on government sponsorship in the 1990s to 27 students last year. They hope to increase the number to 40 this year. Ocaatum says the administration is recruiting more teachers - from less than 30 the school had in 1990s to about 79 they have now. The Government also recently replenished the school library with essential books worth sh18m and promised to rehabilitate it at a total cost of sh2b spread over a period of five years starting from June 2011. This is part of the drive by the Government to rehabilitate 42 secondary schools in Uganda. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]