Namilyango College is a boys-only boarding secondary school located in Mukono District in the Central Region of Uganda, whose history and excellence in sports and academics have made it one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda.[3] It is Uganda's oldest secondary school, founded in 1902 by the CatholicMill Hill Fathers.[4]
Location
The school campus is situated on Namilyango Hill, approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), by road, southwest of Mukono Town, the district headquarters,[5] and about 4 kilometres (2 mi), by road, south of the township of Seeta, the nearest trading center.[6] The college lies approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi), by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[7] The coordinates of Namilyango College are:0°20'19.0"N, 32°43'02.0"E (Latitude:0.338611; Longitude:32.717222).[8]
History
The school was founded in March 1902 by the Mill Hill Fathers, a London-based Catholic missionary society, to educate the sons of Catholic chiefs.[4][9] At the time, the Mill Hill Missionaries' approach to education for locals was guided by their objective of training local catechists and, eventually, local priests.[10] The first students at Namilyango were being trained to become, first and foremost, catechists; those who were considered unfit for that vocation would be sent away or, if they were of good character, educated further so they could be taken on as clerks in the colonial government.[9]
Reputation
Namilyango College is one of the most prestigious schools in Uganda, owing to its history, influence, excellent academic performance and dominance in sports. It is the oldest secondary school and the first college in Uganda, and for long was the best school in boxing until the sport was stopped in the school in the early 1990s.
Rugby is the biggest sport in the College. Namilyango has won the national schools' rugby title more than any other school, and has sent numerous players to the national team. Namilyango College was a pioneer in Information Technology in Ugandan schools, building one of the first computer labs.[11]
Relations with other Schools
Over the years a tradition of Namilyango College has been the rivalries with fellow prestigious schools, in academics, sports and socialising. The rivals have included, in decreasing order of rivalry: St. Mary's College Kisubi, King's College Budo and Busoga College Mwiri.
In recent times the fiercest rivalries have been with Budo and SMACK (Kisubi), as all three institutions field strong teams in the Rugby and field hockey disciplines. In the post-covid era, Namilyango has won two Central Schools' Rugby championships (2022 and 2024) and the rugby title at the 2022 Federation of East African Schools' Sports Association (FEASSA). Budo has won the rugby title at the Uganda Secondary Schools' Sports Association (USSSA) twice (2023 and 2024), and Kisubi won the rugby title at the 2023 FEASSA Games.
Over the years, the school has maintained cordial relations with schools like: Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga, Trinity College Nabbingo, Nabisunsa Girls Secondary School and Gayaza High School.[12] The school organises social evenings (in modern times referred to as sosh), the equivalent to the American high school prom, with one of the aforementioned girls' schools. Sosh is preserved for the Form Six students, with the College hosting in the first term while the corresponding girls' school hosted in second term. In years gone by, a Form Six class had the liberty to host two social gatherings for two different schools.
Houses of residence
The college has twelve residential houses and a hostel. The "O" Level students reside in the residential houses while the "A" Level students reside in Minderop Hostel, named after Father James Minderop, the first headmaster of the college. The twelve O'Level residential houses are:[13]
The Namilyango College Old Boys Association (NACOBA) was formed in 1939, with a helping hand from the then Head Master, Fr. Bernard Doyle. Former students of Namilyango College are called "Old Ngonians", and include a prime minister, a Chief Justice, cabinet ministers, clergymen, members of the royal family of Buganda, judges, lawyers, academics, and sportsmen. Some of the prominent alumni of the school include:
Gale, Hubert P, Uganda And The Mill Hill Fathers (London, Macmillan, 1959, OCLC 1608574)
O'Neil, Robert J, Mission To The Upper Nile: Story of St.Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill in Uganda (London, Mission Book Services, 1999, ISBN0952023814)
