Dr. Henry Stanley Okia was a teacher at Narambhai Road Primary School when Lakwena (Alice Auma) and the Holy Spirit Movement - a rebel group she led - attacked Magamaga ordnance depot in Jinja District in October 1987.

“We heard people saying, ‘Lakwena has been caught at Kakira Sugar Works! Lakwena and Prof. Isaac Newton Ojok are at Kakira!’” he exclaims, smiling at the memory.

But the school, which is 20 kilometres away from Magamaga, was not closed because Lakwena was defeated in a heated battle with the government forces, the National Resistance Army.

Dr Okia was a teacher when Lakwena’s cousin Joseph Kony, began his Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion in 1987, wreaking havoc in northern Uganda and parts of South Sudan. He was still a teacher when the UPDF defeated Kony 20 years later.

Such has been his career that at times, he does not recall his former students when he meets them.

“I once entered a shop on Kampala Road, looking for a suit. There were two young men there who called out to me. I thought, ‘I must have taught them in Nakasero Primary School,’ judging from the way they carried themselves. So, I told them that I knew them,” he says.

The men were so happy to see him and bought him a suit of Shs700,000. “I thanked them and put the thing (suit) in my car. It was unbelievable! I had budgeted to spend only Shs400,000 on the suit,” he says.

Dr Okia has gone through the ranks, upgrading from the Grade Two level to the highest, obtaining a PhD in Educational Planning from Kyambogo University last year.

But even as he upgraded, he remained true to his calling as a primary school teacher. Today, he is the principal of Hillside Schools Naalya – a nursery and primary school, a position he has held for the last 23 years.

“These days I am not fully into teaching, but I go in to help Primary Seven learners conceptualise what they are taught. But if I go to teach, it is Social Studies and Religious Education,” he says.

As he walks into the Primary Seven class, the students stand up to greet him, mentioning all his names.

“Good afternoon, Dr Henry Stanley Okia! We are well, thank you, Dr Henry Stanley Okia!” they chorus.

Since the primary school cycle is seven years, these children are at the tail end of the fifth cycle of Primary Seven learners that Dr Okia is teaching.

“People think when a teacher upgrades, he or she should join another profession. At one point, I wanted to teach in the teachers’ colleges because I was qualified. But I saw that remaining rooted to the primary section would not be bad because it has now become a specialty. There is nothing I do not know about teaching and administration in the primary level,” he says.

His PhD thesis was titled: Support supervision and teacher performance in government-aided schools in the Teso sub-region.

Early beginnings

Dr Okia’s journey began in 1980 when he joined Namutamba Primary Teachers’ College in Mityana District. And, yes, he remembers the five-year civil war (1981-1986) since the college was located in the war theatre.

Dr Henry Stanley Okia, the principal of Hillside Schools Naalya – a nursery and primary school, speaks to pupils in class. He has been at the top position of the school for the last 23 years. PHOTOS | GILLIAN NANTUME

“I was inspired by my primary school teachers, including my uncle, who were always smart and organised. I told my father that when I grew up, I wanted to be a teacher. He encouraged me, saying that was a good ambition to pursue,” he says.

In 1984, Dr Okia qualified as a Grade Two teacher and was posted to Narambhai Road Primary School in Jinja District where he taught English Language and Mathematics in Primary Four. He later graduated to teaching Social Studies and Mathematics in Primary Six and Seven.

One of his more famous former students in 1984 is Dr Rose Kwatampora Oguttu, the head of projects at Uganda Management Institute (UMI).

“Her children studied here (Hillside Schools, Naalya). She helped me during my post-graduate diploma in project planning and management and also taught me how to do online studies for my Master’s degree,” he says.

In 1988, Dr Okia was transferred to Nakasero Primary School where he taught Social Studies, Religious Education and English Language until 1996.

“In 1997, I joined the private education sector as a head teacher at Lakeside Academy Primary School in Bugonga, Entebbe. Then, I helped Flight Captain Darlington Omamteker start Entebbe Junior School where I served as headteacher before I moved to Hillside Schools Naalya,” he says.

Changing face of teaching

Dr Okia says life has greatly changed for teachers since he joined the profession.

“Today, teachers can access loans, upgrade, and do business. I saw this during the Covid-19 lockdowns. University Primary Education teachers, like my wife, continued receiving their salaries for two years. This is a credit to the government because private school teachers did not receive salary,” he says.

He adds that over the years, the curriculum has changed, which has made the learners more competent.

“Previously, the teacher was the alpha and omega of knowledge. Today, however, learners get to know the topic and research about it, so that when the teacher comes in, it is an interaction. Now, we are looking at learners’ competences. Of course, this calls for teachers’ competences to teach those subjects as well,” he says.

Dr Okia adds that the government is doing a lot to ensure that learners get a good education, by providing the capitation grant to Universal Primary Education schools and prompt payment of salaries to teachers.


Teaching is a passion

Dr Okia posits that for one to remain in the profession as long as he has, one has to love it.

“There are a lot of challenges. Sometimes, you are teaching people who are supposed to become successful but you do not have food at home. If, with the little you have, you can make yourself happy and continue teaching, that is high dedication and passion,” he says.

He derides those who run away from the profession because of the chronic meagre earnings.

“I am always looking at a learner, who after completing, will say, ‘You really taught me.’ One of my former students in Narambhai Road is teaching Mathematics at Makerere University. She told me that the Mathematics I taught her in the 1980s shaped her profession. That made me proud,” he says.

Such is his passion that his wife decided to become a teacher.

“I think she saw how I was able to provide from the little I was earning and that persuaded her. We have five children; a nurse, a soldier, an accountant, a pharmacist, and a student nurse,” says the proud father.

From his passion, Dr Okia has constructed a house in the village in Kibale Sub-county, Pallisa District. He is also trying to complete his home in Mukono District.

“It is good to be focused. At one time, when I was upgrading at the National Teachers’ College in Ngetta, a friend, who was the headmaster at Comboni College, was appointed resident district commissioner (RDC). Because of him, I began moving in the political circles and I almost convinced people that I should become an RDC,” he says.

But he kept his eyes on the proverbial ball and has been able to attain the highest level of education in his profession.

“I have acquired a lot of knowledge which has enabled me to carry out consultancies. People come to me about how their schools, even secondary schools, should be managed, and those I have helped have not regretted. I sit on a number of boards with people who have helped me understand how things are done. I have worked with the late (former permanent secretaries Tecla) Kinalwa and (David) Gabindadde Musoke, (former deputy secretary general of the Commonwealth) Florence Mugasha and late Laston Walusagala.”


Advice to aspiring teachers

Dr Okia advises aspiring teachers to come to the profession knowing that there is no wealth to be made.

“Teaching is a calling. Your benefit is if your learners perform well. And you have to pray that they pass because some of them will remember you,” he advises. Before the Primary Seven learners complete afternoon classes, he exhorts them on having discipline in their studies and in life if they are to succeed.

Advice

Dr Okia advises aspiring teachers to come to the profession knowing that there is no wealth to be made. “Teaching is a calling. Your benefit is if your learners perform well. And you have to pray that they pass because some of them will remember you.”