Should opposite sex teachers enter students’ dormitories?

For students in boarding schools it is mandatory to attend preps. But on one fateful night, Jenniffer Ndibasa (not real names), a student in one famous city school, abused this rule and found herself in trouble. It all began when a male teacher at the mixed boarding secondary school stormed her dormitory unexpectedly.

He banged the door forcing his way into the girls’ dormitory. Ndibasa who was in her deep sleep woke up. The teacher presumably watched her with naked interest. Distressed, Ndibasa sobbed as she raised her hand to pick a night dress to cover herself.

“I am bedridden, teacher” she explained her situation.
Male teachers going into girls’ dormitories – and female teachers entering boys’ dormitories, especially in the wee hours of the night – is indeed a common phenomenon in many schools across the country. Mariam, a former student in a prominent school in Masaka District, recalls male teachers conducting ‘night patrols’ in girls’ dormitories.

Odd hours
“A male teacher could at times walk in when we are bathing in the evening and during odd hours when we were changing into our nightdresses. He could find us either completely naked or inappropriately dressed.”

One evening, Mariam says, some ‘bad girls’ who had just returned from bathing threw off their towels when he entered. “They thought this would scare him too, but he simply said whatever they were showing him he had seen before!”
In extreme cases, helpless students are left to deal with ugly consequences with lasting effects on their lives.

Ms Anne Ssamula, a city psychologist, condemns the practice, especially when the victims are in their late teens.
She says children in their adolescence stage, especially girls, become more conscious of their privacy and need to be respected.

Respect privacy
“Psychologically it affects those students because at such a stage they expect others to respect their privacy. Indeed, the dormitory serves as their bedroom where they can do funny things they avoid to do in class or on a school compound,” says Ms Ssamula, who went to a girls’ school-Trinity College, Nabbingo.

Although Ms Ssamula says she never saw this happening during her school days, she argues that keeping out of the students’ dormitories is good for the teachers too.

“For us we had female wardens but in schools where it is happening, teachers have to stop this habit forthwith because it can put their integrity in question. For instance, some girls are funny, one can claim that a male teacher wanted to rape her. This is a serious trap a teacher can’t get out of easily,” she says.

Dr Margret Busigye, a parent, says it depends on the age of the children. “If it is early childhood, say Primary 1 to Primary 4, I can understand, because they need parenting. But for high school students, their dorms should be a no-go area especially at night,” she says.

Mr Erasim Kanyerezi, a career guidance teacher at King’s College Budo says issues of girls must be handled by female teachers like it should be male teachers for boys.

“At Budo we have a system where girls at dormitory level are supervised by their female teachers, house mistresses and prefects. We believe that female teachers know their needs better than their male counterparts,” he says
“It is only in extreme cases where a male teacher has to intervene but he has to be in the company of other female teachers.” he adds.

Mr Kanyerezi argues that although it is not the duty of every teacher to enter students’ dormitories, head teachers are in a unique position because they are required to know what is going on in and around the school premises all the time.

“A head teacher is the chief executive of the school and is assumed to have a high level of integrity. So, whatever the case , he/she cannot avoid visiting dormitories of the opposite sex since he is supposed to know what is taking place there,” he noted.

However, he says even when it is the head teacher visiting the dormitories, he has to inform house prefects in advance to avoid ‘embarrassing scenes.’

Mr Kanyerezi says because they respect the privacy of girls, there are some walkways within the school compound that are out of bounds for all males during the night.

Mr Huzaifa Mutazindwa, the head of Directorate of Education Standards, says there are minimum standards and regulations on who should handle and monitor pupils/students in dormitories.
“Regulations are clear, if the dormitory is for girls, we expect a female matron to monitor and for the boys dorms they should be monitored by a male warden,” Mr Mutazindwa says.

Age limit
“We expect that person (matron or warden) to be above 30 years or someone who has had seven years of experience in education. We expect such a person to manage students well,” he adds.

A journalist, who studied in a prominent school recalls that one night, a teacher who came to supervise them survived rape.
“Boys had mobilised and they pounced on her. It was the noise she made that saved her,” he recalls. According to trend, such behaviour is still prevalent in schools.