‘Teach despite the meagre pay’ - Moses Bisaso

Moses Bisaso could have been a lawyer in the best case scenario but he could have also been a school dropout at worst had his friend, Gerald Bisaso, not intervened after the former’s Senior Six.
Gerald, who was a student at Makerere University at the time was doing school practice at Najja Mary’s High School Kiyindi, Buikwe District, where Moses was teaching too.

And that confirmed the fact that Bisaso was destined to be a teacher because Gerald said he would pay for his university education on condition that he enrolls for an education degree.

It is 8am when I reach Kiteza Senior Secondary School in Buikwe District where Bisaso, the head teacher is preparing lessons for his next class at 11am in his office. Despite being the head teacher, Bisaso teaches Christian Religious Education and Luganda in all the candidate classes.

Asked about how he balances administration work and teaching, he says he is driven by passion. “I had wanted to be a lawyer at first but now I do not see any other profession that would give me as much satisfaction as teaching does,” he says.
Born to Fred Sserwanga and Florence Nanyonjo of Luwero District in 1985, Bisaso was orphaned at one year and grew up in Lugazi Town with his grandmother, a peasant.

Schooling against odds
Bisaso spent the seven years of primary school at St Kizito Primary School in Lugazi and scored Aggregate 9 in 1998.
In 1999, he joined Equator College, Lugazi until 2002 when he sat for Uganda Certificate of Education and scored Aggregate 29. To afford school fees, Bisaso says he used to do casual work which of course would affect his education. Unlike other students, Bisaso never had free time even during holidays for maximum concentration on his books. Instead he would be doing pottery work and bricklaying to earn some money for home and his school requirements.

After Senior Four he thought the end of his education had come since the school director had only sponsored him up to that level.

But in 2003, his grandmother secured another scholarship at Central View High School, Mukono for only Senior Five to study HED/Luganda which he would supplement with casual work. Luck was on his side and his sponsorship was extended because he was a disciplined student. He scored 19 points in Ugandan Advanced Certificate of Education in 2004.

But his peasant grandmother could not pay for his university education so for a year he was not in school. During his vacation, Bisaso had been asked to teach Senior One in Najja Mary’s High School Kiyindi, Buikwe District by Kiluta Ssemisambwa, the head of the school. Impressed by the performance of the students, Ssemisambwa promised to enroll Bisaso for university education but Bisaso met Gerald before the promise came to pass.

Ray of hope
In 2006, Bisaso enrolled for a Bachelor’s degree in Education at Makerere University and graduated in 2009.
After his degree he got a job to teach at Good Will College, Kampala from where he joined Omega Christian High School, Mukono. In 2012 he joined Mutesa Memorial School then St. Mary’s Orthodox School as deputy head in 2013. In mid-2013, he was also a part-time teacher in Kiteza but later quit the Orthodox school to become a full teacher at Kiteza where he was later appointed headmaster.

Bisaso says they mostly sponsor orphaned students at the school where he goes an extra mile to interact and counsel them to make them fit in the society. The director Ssalongo Mukasa Mutyaba brings street and orphaned children who study for free but can help in farm work during weekends. “I always encourage the other students not to segregate them,” he says.

To those joining the teaching profession, Bisaso advises them to love and stick to it. He says others join teaching as a last resort, but at whatever stage they decide, they should not regret. Let them be satisfied so as to yield good results. He also says meagre salaries should not let them fail at their work but instead, they should impart knowledge as required to make a great future for the young generation.