Inmates at Uganda Government Upper Prison School, Luzira, celebrate the UCE results released on February 11, 2025. PHOTO/ TONNY ABET
Studying in poorly equipped provisional classes and enduring the mental stress associated with incarceration, all 27 candidates at the Uganda Government Upper Prison School in Luzira, passed the 2024 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations. As they celebrated the success yesterday, the teachers and learners shared with the Monitor what it takes to study at the prison school. “We have some places which we are using as classes, but the challenge is they are next to the carpentry section which is very noisy,” said Mr Gilbert Niwamanya, the head of schools at Luzira prison.
The upper prison was constructed in 1927 with no provision for classrooms as one of the rehabilitation approaches for inmates, according to Mr Niwamanya. “Carpentry also rehabilitates inmates, so we run the carpentry concurrently with the education section, so it is very noisy. Our classes are very noisy but our students are used to that inconvenience together with the teachers, and this has not stopped them (students) from performing well,” he noted.
Mr Niwamanya, however, revealed that although some inmates assist as teachers, they also have 27 secondary school teachers who are paid by the government who work hard to ensure learners excel. Additionally, the institution has five non-teaching staff members. Mr Isaac Imakuru, 20, was the top performer per the 2024 UCE results for the Upper Prison School released by Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) yesterday. Mr Imakuru, who said he has been on remand for two years as he awaits a High Court ruling, said the officer-in-charge and teachers were very supportive despite challenges in studying. He said his best subject was History, where he scored an A.
“I was brought here in 2023 when I was in Senior three. So when I reached here, I got that opportunity that there was a school here. So immediately after the first, I joined in the second term,” he narrated.
“I would like to thank God because it is not really easy to be the best among all the students that you see behind here. It has been a tough journey, but with the grace of God, I’ve made it. I wanted to become a doctor but, you know, being in prison, it is not possible [because of lack of facilities to teach science]. So for now, I would go with the available combinations that we have within the premises,” he added.
Although Mr Imakuru is highly optimistic about the new curriculum, he acknowledged that the prison environment presents certain limitations.
In his request to the government, Mr Imakuru said there should be increased access to the internet for the learners. “This will help the students to plan before the lessons because our new curriculum requires more of doing research as a student and not just waiting for what the teacher will give,” he said. He also acknowledged facing challenges in conducting projects which are a requirement in the new curriculum rolled out by the government.
“Here we did a number of projects, one of them was designing flowers out of papers and out of kaveras [polythene bags]. We made it but it is a little bit challenging because getting those materials is sometimes very difficult because sometimes we have to use our teachers to bring them for us,” he revealed. Ms Joweria Kaweesi, the only female inmate at Luzira prison who sat the UCE examinations, dreams of becoming an accountant. Ms Kaweesi said: “I feel so happy, I feel so different,” she said, expressing excitement.
“I have confidence in me. We sat Primary Seven in 2019, we were five and two failed, then three remained but of those remaining, two dropped out in Senior Two and I remained [alone].” “I made sure that instead of calling it prison, I made it an opportunity to add something in my life because I was imprisoned when I was young, I was 17 years old, that was 2016,” she revealed.
Information from the prison indicates that of the 300 students in the secondary section, there are only 27 females. When asked why her friends dropped out of school, Ms Kaweesi explained that many felt overwhelmed by the stress of imprisonment and the challenges of managing their children’s education, as they were not attending school. “One of them told me that she had ulcers so she never had time to do extra work within the prison such as washing for others to make some money to buy what she wanted in the canteen (and not just eat normal food provided by the government for all prisoners),” she said. “Another one said,
“I’m thinking a lot of things, my kids, my child, I have a lot of years here,” so they dropped out of school. They said they can’t add education to their file (imprisonment),” she added.
Commenting on the low enrolment of female inmates in education, Mr Niwamaya said: “You must realise that with the new curriculum, it requires someone who started from Senior One and the fact is our students we get them when they have dropped out of school.”
“When we get like female learners who had dropped out of Senior Two and when we advise them to go [back] to Senior One, they would feel that is a demotion and they decline to continue with education, and for that reason, we had one candidate,” he added.
Like Ms Kaweesi, Mr Niwamanya also said some drop out because of worries. “They have their unique challenges to do with their families. Our ladies are 19 years and above and you find that maybe someone was maybe married and left children outside and when she hears the children are not being catered for very well, they lose focus and drop out,” he added.
