Lycée de Kigali, Uganda’s Ntare School enhance relations

A team of 50 teachers from Ntare School, in western Uganda, yesterday, concluded a two-day visit of the country aimed at enhancing cooperation with Lycee de Kigali (LDK).Based in Western Uganda, Ntare School, one of the oldest and best performing Ugandan public secondary schools, has Presidents Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, as its alumni. The school has nurtured many other prominent Rwandan and Ugandan figures.The visit was organised within the framework of an earlier twinning partnership programme between the two schools. The Ntare School-LDK twinning programme was established in July 2006 after the Ntare School Old Boys Association – Rwanda Chapter (NSOBA-Rwanda), and their Ugandan counterparts decided to launch an exchange programme based on academic, cultural and co-curricular areas that would be of benefit to both schools. The Deputy Headmaster of Ntare School, Saul Rwampororo, told The New Times that his total delegation of 60 also included 10 teachers from Bweranyangi Girls Secondary School. “Our teachers often come here and stay to teach for some time and students also exchange visits to benchmark, see what is happening in both academics and sports,” Rwampororo explained.A soccer match pitting teachers from Ntare and their counterparts at LDK took place before the delegation visited the Kigali Genocide memorial centre. They also toured the city of Kigali before heading back home on Sunday afternoon. Groups of Ntare School science teachers and students have in the past visited LDK. “There were some workshops, seminars and competitions conducted here at Lycee (de Kigali) by the teachers of Ntare. It helped our teachers especially in the practical teaching of science subjects and there was also exchange of leadership experiences between the students’ prefect bodies. I think that not only do the two schools benefit from each other but so does the relationship between the two countries,” LDK Headmaster, Martin Masabo, who is an honorary member of NSOBA, told The New Times, last week. Meanwhile, yesterday, NSOBA-Rwanda got a new Chairperson after Dr. Charles Gahima, officially handed over the reins to Aaron Turamye, in an event held at Hilltop Hotel, in Remera, Kigali. NSOBA-Rwanda plans to build a model replica of Ntare School on a 50 hectare piece of land in Bugesera District. The school is expected to cost an estimated Rwf2.5billion. According to Turamye, the association’s general meeting, on Sunday, also discussed the project. Turamye said: “Our general assembly also talked about the important aspect of contributing to society in form of corporate social responsibility activities, among other things. And, we are also going to commence the design of the architectural plans for our school project. The project will be co-implemented with Bugesera District.” In 2010, Ntare School began offering 15 scholarships to Rwandan students annually with 10 in senior one and five in A-level for students who meet the high academic qualification standards of the school. Dr. Gahima, the former NSOBA-Rwanda Chair, is the Vice Chairman of NSOBA-Global and is also a member of Ntare School’s Board of Governors. Ntare School was founded by William Crichton, a Scottish educator, in 1956.

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Lycée de Kigali, Uganda’s Ntare School enhance relations