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~ Richard Bangirana
Mwenge Central
Supporting Primary Education
at McLeod Russel, Uganda
T
he motto for one of Uganda’s
Primary Schools goes
“akati
kainikwa
kakiri
kabisi”
,
meaning, “a stick can only be moulded
to the desired shape when still young.”
The same is internalized by McLeod
Russel in Uganda by dedicating CSR
commitments to education and health.
in the last five years, new Nursery
Schools have been constructed at Kiko
and Mwenge; Primary Schools
facilitated with new classroom blocks;
and existing buildings refurbished at
Ankole, Mwenge, Muzizi, Kisaru and
Bugambe.
The History of Primary Education
in Uganda
Formal education in Uganda was
started in the 19th century by
missionaries from Europe. Schools
were constructed by religious
institutions, most of them in the 20th
century. it came to pass that primary
schools were started on the premises
of religious institutions and then
handed over to the government as
they grew. More recently the
Government of the Republic of
Uganda has taken over responsibility
from inception, often supported by
donor agency funds.
Some plantation establishments
started primary schools to cater for
workers’ children and to assist the
community. At Ankole and Mwenge,
these primary schools are still located
on Company land. At Kiko and
Muzizi, these were shifted just beyond
the estate boundary for expansion
reasons and for the community to
exercise more responsibility, as MRUL
management maintains appropriate
support. in both cases, initial
construction for relocation was borne
by the Company.
Current Responsibility Over
Schools in Uganda
The Government of Uganda, since
independence in 1962, took over
responsibility of schools from
founding institutions. Compromises
have been made with regard to
administration of these schools, to
maintain founding institutions in
managerial roles. For a number of
primary schools located on or near
MRUL estates, the respective estate is
recognized as the foundation body.
The Uganda Government currently
has a policy of Universal Primary
Education (UPE). when introduced
in the last decade, payment of school
fees in ‘public schools’ was regulated to
make it compulsory for all children of
school-going age to attend school.
This created massive enrolment, which
overwhelmed the capacity of schools
in terms of infrastructure and trained
teachers. MRUL, witnessing this
situation, stepped in to support the
policy at schools near the estates.
The Historical Involvement of
Companies before MRUL
Agricultural Enterprises Limited
(AEL) was established as a para-statal
enterprise in the 1960s, and what are
now MRUL estates were established.
Responsibility for schools constructed
on these government owned tea
estates was seen as consistent with the
government’s mandate for socio-
economic development.
Later in the 1990s, the government
decided to advance into a private
sector-led economy, which saw a
number of state-owned enterprises
privatized. AEL was one such,
changing to James Finlay Uganda
Limited and in due course, to
McLeod Russel Uganda Limited.
The privatization of tea plantations led
to a change in focus that saw primary
schools left entirely as the government’s
responsibility, with no, or at best
negligible, support from the companies
that existed at that time.
MRUL’s Initiative in the
Development of Primary
Schools
when McLeod Russel took over in
2010, a careful exercise identified key
Corporate Social Responsibility areas
A Classroom in Kyabaseke Primary School, Bugambe
46 JULY 2015