Omony, the teacher who runs a one-man school

He may be only 25-years-old but Charles Curry Omony’s experience is somewhat heroic – he heads a school in which he is the only teacher.
Auntie Rachael Nursery & Primary School in Muyubwe landing site in Buikwe District, is a school made of wood and grass with three partitions for three classes.

It is this structure that Omony treks to every morning to educate the “future leaders” of Uganda. “I have three classes, Baby, Top and Primary 1,” Omony says. “I teach all of them from Monday to Friday at different intervals.”

His work starts at 7am every week day with a 45-minute lesson for P1 after which he leaves them with an exercise. He then moves to Baby Class for another 45 minutes before completing his early morning session with Top Class. At 10am he gives them a break and they resume at 11am to learn up to mid-day and return home.

“I teach everything, drawing, writing, singing, everything. I get really tired but I have no way out,” Mr Omony says.
The school, the only one at Muyubwe landing site, which was started in early 2011 with more than 100 pupils had only 19 pupils by the close of the third term in November 2012.

“I have 19 pupils in all the classes. The ones who dropped out are more than 100,” he says. “Most parents say they can’t afford the school fees.”

The school charges Shs20,000 per term. When Omony joined, he found one teacher, who left a few months ago. By November 2012, he had earned no salary for eight months.

“I was paid for only two to three months,” he says. A lady identified as Rose, the alleged founder of the school, has not returned to the landing site for several months.

To survive, Omony has to double as a fish trader at the landing site. He buys fresh fish, roasts and sells it to other traders.
“In this teaching I am like a volunteer. I am earning nothing,” Mr Omony says.

The classroom block on Sundays turns into a church. There are occasional visits by catechists from Nkokonjeru Catholic Parish.
Mr Fred Watira Wangota, a fisherman, who had two children in the school, says he took them out to help in food production as he could not afford the school dues.

“I find Shs20,000 too high for me. But one day I will return them to school,” he says.