Tibagwa: 91-year-old with zeal to teach

Some choose to become teachers in order to earn a living, others become teachers as a path to other opportunities while others, such as Flora Tibagwa do it out of an inherent need to make a difference. 

At 91 years, the former teacher is still giving lessons and imparting wisdom to whoever crosses her path. The nonagenarian retired from her beloved profession after 36 years and now spends quiet days in Kikiike village in Rubingo parish, Fort Portal City. 

“I never needed a classroom to teach. I think I have taught more in my retirement than in the classroom. I even feel my lessons were deeper and more meaningful outside the classroom,” says Tibagwa about her life in retirement. 

Dressed in her green traditional outfit (ekitambi)  teamed with white shoes the former teacher looks immaculate and well in control of her mental faculties. She attributes her lucidity to her education and profession. 

“Every child should be given an opportunity to go to school. Education goes beyond enabling one to read and write but also teaches them to tell good from bad. When you have the ability to tell good from bad, you make life enhancing decisions which are still sustaining my life,” she says.   

Tibagwa strives to keep her mind sharp by reading and writing with her grandchildren everyday. She also plays games with them to remain agile. 

“I still recognise people and my memory is as strong as it has always been,” she says.
She puts it to the test while remembering the journey that led her to the classroom. Born in 1929, at Katumba Village in Kabarole

District to Mary Nyakaisiki and Kabaaho, Tibagwa started school at six years old. 
Education background

Just like children of her time who were girls, Tibagwa had few chances of ever going to school. Her luck was changed by a one Nicholas, a missionary nun who spotted her while playing in Katumba. 

“When Sister told my mother that she wanted to enroll me in school, she first refused because at the time, six was too young an age to start school. But sister was persistent and my mother conceded. I was taken to a nursery school at Virika in Fort Portal,” Tibagwa says.

Tibagwa completed her Primary Six at Virika in Fort Portal and joined Trinity College Nabbingo in 1944. She, however, dropped out after one year because of sickness. She joined St Scholastic Primary Teachers’ College in Virika where she completed and passed her exams in 1946.

“I chose the teaching profession because I loved it. I believed education could positively change people’s lives and that is what I set out to do when I started working in 1947,” Tibagwa says.
Teaching  professional  

Tibagwa taught at Butiti Primary School, now in Kyenjojo District in 1947 for one year earning Shs40 a month. 
“I used my first salary to buy many household items and gave some of it to my family for upkeep,” she recalls.  In 1948, she transferred to Kinyamasika Primary School in Fort Portal for one year before joining Kabale Primary School Kabale District where she taught for the next five years.

Tibagwa taught in numerous schools and retired in 1970 after an illustrious 36-year career.  
Experience

Unlike most teachers of the time who believed in spanking, Tibagwa chose to treat her pupils with compassion and respect. 
“I realised that children learn more when a teacher treated them with kindness and understanding instead of instilling fear in them. I always thought teachers only resorted to spanking as a tool because they did not know any better.  If you know what you are teaching, it becomes easy to transfer that knowledge to someone else. But if you are not confident with the material you end up trying to force it on the children. I advise teachers to first get comfortable with the material before trying to teach it, this will help them find effective ways of teaching,” she advises.  

Tibagwa says her mode of teaching earned her a lot of respect from her pupils. 
“My pupils were free with me and shared with me a lot of their challenges. This gave me insight on how to help them become better learners,” she says. 

She also calls upon parents to take an active role in their children’s education if they want them to succeed. 
“When a child comes from school, as a parent you need to check their books and ask them what they have learnt while at school, ask where they are having challenges and find a way of helping them. Spare time to attend school meetings and during holidays encourage them to revise,” says Tibagwa. 

Busy in retirement

For her family, Tibagwa is a built-in solution for free lessons. Even though she gave up teaching decades ago, for her grandchildren she makes an exception. 
“During holidays I give my grandchildren lessons in Mathematics and English language. Not much has changed since my time and I am proud to realise it all comes back to me naturally,” she says.
She is a stickler for correct English punctuation in which she notes most people have become lax. 
“I do not understand the type of English these young people speak. Most of them are neither able to spell nor speak,” she says with disappointment. She urges children to take their studies seriously.
 “People judge you by the way you speak and treat you accordingly. If you give every utterance value, then people will treat you with respect which will open doors to an influential life,” she notes.
Good old days
Tibagwa recounts that during her childhood, teachers were respected members of the community. They were held to a high standard because they were often their pupils’ role models. This motivated them to live morally upright lives.

Robert Kasule, her son says, “Her memory is still sharp and eloquent. People  still seek and value her advice.  She is now aging but we are still proud of her. She demonstrates her control on life by exercising every day. In the morning, she walks around the house and if the weather is fair, she walks in the compound. Although she has been battling high blood pressure for a while now, she still has three meals a day. She says she misses some of her favourite meals such as rice and milk. She also does not eat salt.”

Francis Jjingo, one of her grandsons, says
“Her wisdom and strength make our grandmother a strong pillar of the family. As a teacher, she has observed the values of hard work, determination and perseverance and we strive to do the same. These values were instilled in us since childhood. For example, as young children,  we would wake up early in the morning and first go to the garden to dig. This taught us the importance of hard work and flexibility to take on any job as long as it benefits us. 
We also learnt the importance of earning our own income. I noticed how many times she stepped in to help our parents financially even in her old age, she still has that kind of independence.” 

What others say
Nusura Nyangoma her former pupil  (Tibagwa taught her in Primary Three and Five), says,  “She was my teacher at St Mary’s Kinyamasika in Fort Portal She taught  us Mathematics in Primary Three and Science in Primary Five. Tibagwa loved her pupils and knew all our names. She was one of the smart teachers at school. Her clothes were always neatly pressed. We all respected and admired her for her kindness and her appearance. Whenever someone failed her subjects, she would take it upon herself to teach them privately until they caught up with the rest. She was punctual for  lessons, you knew she would be where she was supposed to be without fail. 

«She was also quite intelligent; I remember  we used to do class handwork and she could assist us. We used to make mats, clay pots, among others.” Nyangoma says she became particularly close to Tibagwa because as a class prefect, she got a chance to spend time with the teacher who would give her advice on life. “She urged me to concentrate on school and avoid getting involved in relationships that would cause me to drop out of school because of early pregnancy.” 

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