our background

Kampala Quality’s commitment to the pursuit of quality education was ignited by the vision of our esteemed founder, Mr. Edward Kasisiri (may he rest in peace). This story rings fresh in the mind of the school's co-founder and current Director Mrs. Jenniffer Kasisiri. It is a story of love, strife, persistence, triumph and hope.

In her own words, Mrs. Kasisiri sums it up quite well. “In the depths of our hearts, we held an unwavering aspiration for excellence. We refused to settle for anything less than providing the highest quality education to our students. Our educational journey was shaped by our experiences as teachers at Buganda Road Primary School and Buddo Junior School” Edward was a classroom teacher and head of the Mathematics department for 20 years at Buganda Road Primary School while I taught in the same school."

Drawing inspiration from their own experiences Mr. and Mrs Kasisiri embarked on the journey of crafting a school that would stand as a beacon of class and quality. “We envisioned a place where excellence would reside in every corner, from the architecture to the grounds, to our teaching methods and most importantly, within the hearts and minds of our students”

It wasn’t smooth sailing recalls Mrs. Kasisiri. “Both of us had big responsibilities back home since we both came from very humble backgrounds. This did not hinder us from saving some money to fulfill this dream. Edward, I must say, was very hardworking, and did his work with a lot of passion and commitment. A popular educator he privately tutored children from almost all big schools around Kampala on weekends and during school holidays. He went as far as forsaking going to church for all those years yet he never forgot his God. I used to pray for him and interceded for him in his absence”

“In 1994, we raised enough money and bought land where the school stands today. The place was so bushy and isolated and the area was known to be a den of thieves. I vividly remember the first time we went to check on this land, I stayed back as Edward was being shown the boundaries in fear of the car we had travelled in being stolen. I also doubted whether parents would wish to send children to such a remote place. All the same with God's grace we went ahead and bought it."

“Four years later in 1998, Mr. Edward Kamya, our architect, submitted a plan for its construction. We tasked him to design infrastructure that would match our vision of epitomising quality education. In fact, it’s at this moment that we first proposed the name "Kampala Quality Academy." Yet, this name, brimming with our aspiration for excellence, faced rejection from the then Commissioner in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Manday. Undeterred, we embraced the name "Kampala Quality Primary School"

With limited space, Mr. and Mrs. Kasisiri resolved to construct multi-story buildings, a choice that set them apart as pioneers of such architecture, at a time when institutions boasting storied buildings were a rarity.

"Currently", says Mrs Kasisiri, "with over 2,500 students and a community of parents who share the same vision for educational excellence, we hope to continue impacting our community through the provision of education that not only challenges and builds the minds of our young students but also impacts the community around us, which community has supported us throughout the 25 years of our existence."

Architecture plan

In September, the architectural plan was completed. The architect came to school to report to Edward. But because when we used to go to school to work, it was only school business, we never used to meet and talk about our personal business.

So when we were on our way from school, Edward told me how the architect wanted to submit the plan to K.C.C and needed the name of the school.

Because of the vision we had in mind, we did not even take time to think about it. I remember giving him the name of our school there and then to which he answered, “That is the right name”.

On October 9th 1999 the setting of the block was done and the building commenced thereafter. Our target was to open the following year. We used to check on the workers every single evening after school. Unfortunately, the money we had could not be enough. The iron sheets were not enough and the timber to roof was also not enough.

We borrowed some money from a few individuals and we completed the roofing. That is all we could do. We washed the Kirundu timber we had used on the slab and the carpenter made desks which we used.

The school was to open on Monday 8th February when Edward’s elder and only brother passed on from Mulago hospital on the Thursday before. This required money to transport the body to Kabale for burial. There wasn’t any money with us since we had already closed all the accounts in bid to complete the building. Thank God for the friends who came in and saved the situation.

He had to proceed for burial on Friday before leaving me with 50,000= shillings to open the school the following Monday. We had promised free exercise books, pencils and pens to all pupils. We were supposed to provide lunch to all the pupils. We had no saucepans, plates, cups, flour for food and no scholastic materials.

While I was still stranded with my fifty thousand shillings, a parent who had heard of Mr. Kasisiri’s new school came to register her son and paid eighty thousand shillings in cash which was the fees we charged per upper primary. Little did she know that she was a God sent saviour.

This money helped me to do shopping on Sunday 7th and the school opened the following day on 8th Feb 1999 with 24 pupils from Nursery to P.7 and we ended the year with 99 pupils.

We recruited 6 teachers and we became 8 to begin with. Edward and I taught Math and English respectively from P.5- P.7. I also taught Writing from P.1- P.7. This was easy because children were very few. I also worked in many capacities as Headmistress etc...without salary.

I can say we never advertised the school, save for a few announcements done by a former pupil of Edward. Mr. Ogwal Robert (Rusta Rob) did for us as he worked at Super FM radio station.

The way we taught, the emphasis on actual teaching, the quality and organization of work in the children’s books and the way the children improved day by day did us great. The children loved their school and this made many parents believe in us.

Another thing was Edward was famous for Mathematics teaching and when parents knew that he was teaching there full time, it was an additional advert.

Our biological children were in the school which gave parents confidence that we were determined to do our best.

Challenges we faced

  • The building was not plastered, not cemented, no widows and floor flames, not even the office. Whenever it would rain, we would gather the children and hide in the corners. (You know what this means to a city parent).
  • Being on a hill, there was a lot of wind which brought about too much coldness as there were no shutters.
  • The majority of children were those from within the locality and paying fees was a problem.
  • The number of pupils was still very low.
  • Text books for both teachers and pupils were very dew.
  • Getting money for salaries was a problem.

The strengths we had at that time

  • Parents kept on looking for Edward for private tuition which enabled us to pay teachers salaries and in time (ever since the school started there was no month we failed to pay salaries between 28th- 30th).
  • Emphasis on actual teaching other than drilling children.
  • Making children love both their teachers and the work they did at school.
  • The unique cursive handwriting we taught the children which left the parents lost for words.
  • The academic improvement in children which did not go unnoticed by parents years after year.
  • The Micro teaching we held as staff once every week helped us a lot to improve on our method of work.
  • The listening ear we lent to our parents and co-operation which existed between the two parties had an impact.
  • The cleanliness we maintained everywhere, on the school premises added a lot of value.
  • The co-curricular activities which the children enjoyed every evening was a great addition.
  • Having worked with very good headteachers in terms of administration in the only two schools we worked helped us administer our school in the same line.
  • We knew there was stiff competition among schools in the same district and since our vision was to put our school among the top schools in the country, we were motivated to work and think endlessly to achieve it.
  • Remaining classroom teachers helped us to identify the problems the teachers faced and we tried to solve them together.

Because we begun with the end in mind and we have remained focused we have so far succeeded on the following;

  • From a one unplastered block, un cemented floors to painted walls and tiled floors,
  • From one storey building to two well finished blocks with more than one floor each.
  • From an 8 man teaching staff to a sixty five man teaching staff. From 24 pupils to 1500 pupils.
  • From 23% first grade pass in P.L.E in 1999 to 89.8% in 2011. From desks made out of Kirundu to Mvule desks.
  • We have had several pupils graduating professional courses which give us satisfaction and contentment.
  • From zero salary as Director and H/M to a reasonably good salary.

We still believe that there are many successes to be achieved not even allowing the sky to limit us.

Because of what we went through we came to agree with one of former US president John Kennedy who said that “Things don’t just happen, but they are made to happen”.

I believe that all success begins with you, and there is no shortcut in achieving greatness but carefully working for it.

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