Teacher with character and commitment

As Irene Nassolo Ssettumba sat down on a small wooden desk in an empty office room set for the interview, her passion for teaching was evident. Our chat started with her telling me her love for the profession started after a conversation she had with her father as a young girl about her future.
“I did not know what I wanted to do. I was in Senior Four at Mackay College, Nateete,” said Nassolo. “My father offered me two options, either to become a teacher or nurse. I told him teaching would be a good job for me because until today, I do not like taking medicine.”

Her academic journey led her to Old Kampala Secondary School where she attended A-Level. In the 1980’s though, Nassolo says teachers around her were not inspiring. She recalls that most would dress shabbily while some were known to be poor and others drunkards.
“Dressing matters a lot to me yet most teachers I knew were shabby. But while at Buloba Primary Teachers College, I met one female tutor who was always smart and that changed my perception a lot,” she says.

Start of a journey
Upon completing her course as a Grade III teacher, Nassolo started her work as a teacher of English and Social Studies at St Bernadette Nakibizzi in Njeru and worked there for four years. But during third term holidays of 2003, she saw an advert about a new school opening near her home; St Francis Junior School. She tried her luck by submitting an application. On February 2, 2004, she got the job in the school that was then housed in wooden structures.
“I thought I would work there for a few years and move on,” Nassolo recalls. “Well, this is my 21st year here.”She started as an administrator as well as a teacher. During the course of 20 years, Nassolo has taught Religious Education and Social Studies to candidate classes for eight years. In addition, she has served as a counsellor (to both fellow colleagues and pupils), been a class teacher, chairperson academic board, head of social studies and patron of Europe house, which she proudly calls ‘victors’ for winning the Music, Dance and Drama competition and sports gallas.

Prior to becoming the established teacher we see today, Nassolo’s first salary of Shs60,000 made colleagues question why she had condemned herself to poverty.
“I have seen teachers come and go,” she said. “But to me, the key in life is not about how much money one gets but how you manage it. Most teachers are poor because they are poor planners.” And she is determined to save, saving through which she has acquired a 4-acre plot of land in Buddo on which she cultivates and keeps more than 40 pigs.

Born a teacher
Nassolo goes beyond her role as a teacher by counselling students about the struggles they face. “What I try to do is teach them how to live in society and showing them that they will make it through life,” Nassolo says.
The excitement in her classroom has inspired some children to take up teaching as a career. Joweria Namubiru, who was in her Primary six class of 2009 is now a teacher at the nursery section after graduating from Lady Valeria Vocational and Business College, Matugga. Michael Kanoonya, too, teaches at Buddo Secondary School.

But her best memory lately was on October 24, when pupils surprised her with a birthday cake. “I have always been celebrating my birthdays but this was so special because my pupils showed their appreciation,” she recounts.
Through the course of their lives, Nassolo hopes her students can remember that life is about making a difference in other people’s lives.