Namilyango College


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. It is Uganda's oldest secondary school, founded in 1902 by the Catholic Mill Hill Fathers.
WWW namilyangocollege.sc.ug

Location

The school campus is situated on Namilyango Hill, approximately, by road, southwest of Mukono Town, the district headquarters, and about, by road, south of the township of Seeta, the nearest trading center. The college lies approximately, by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of Namilyango College are:0°20'19.0"N, 32°43'02.0"E.

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. 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. 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.

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.
It is also now acknowledged by modern Ugandan students as a member of The G8’s of Ugandan education

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, 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 and the rugby title at the 2022 Federation of East African Schools' Sports Association. Budo has won the rugby title at the Uganda Secondary Schools' Sports Association twice, 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. The school organises social evenings, 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:
  1. Biermans House - Named after Bishop John Biermans, Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1912 - 1924
  2. Billington House - Named after Bishop Vincent Billington, Bishop of Kampala 1953 - 1965
  3. Campling House - Named after Bishop John William Campling, Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1925 - 1937
  4. Doyle House - Named after Rev. Fr. Captain Bernard Doyle, the longest serving Headmaster of the College
  5. Hanlon House - "House of Lords", named after Bishop Henry Hanlon (MHM) 1862 - 1937, Vicar Apostolic of Upper Nile 1894 - 1911
  6. Kiwanuka House - Named after Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, the first native African to be appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in East Africa
  7. Kuipers House - Named after Father Bernard Kuipers, served the College for 30 years as teacher, Headmaster, and Chaplain
  8. McKee House - Named after Father Kevin McKee, a teacher at the College
  9. Mukasa House - Named after Mr. Noah Mukasa, a former Biology teacher at the College
  10. Reesinck House - Named after Bishop John Reesinck, Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Nile 1938 - 1950
  11. Heweston House - Named after Fr. Henry Heweston, former headmasters of the school.
  12. Charles Lwanga House - Named after one of the Uganda Martyrs

Notable alumni

The Namilyango College Old Boys Association 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:

Royals

Politics

Law

Civil service

Academia

Writers

Other