The school is located in the town of Gayaza, in Wakiso District, approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. The school grounds cover an area of 140 acres on a hilltop, running roughly south to north. It is bounded on the north by Makerere University Farm at Kabanyolo and on the west by smallholdings and the Gayaza – Namulonge road.
The area between the school farm and the road from Kampala to Kalagi, Mukono, Uganda comprises a swamp and more smallholdings.
Gayaza High School lies immediately north of a small settlement known as Gayaza Market. At this point, the main road from Kampala forks; one road leading to Kalagi in Mukono District and the other to Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Research Institute (NAARI), and on to Zirobwe. The lane between them leading up to the school, past the primary day schools and the parish church, is a cul de sac, which accounts for the school’s relative security in times of trouble.
History
Christian missionaries belonging to the Church Missionary Society of England founded Gayaza High School in January 1905 with four students. By July 1905, the number of students had grown to 43. The land was donated to the Church by Kabaka Daudi Cwa II.
The purpose was to train girls, especially the daughters of chiefs of the Kingdom of Buganda, in those skills that would make them better wives. This was the only basis of security approval from the traditional and traditionalist leaders of that time. The founders however had a different motive: to educate girls based on a strong Christian foundation. They realized that the best way of entrenching Christianity was by having Christian mothers under whom children spent all their formative years.
In the beginning, the curriculum included agriculture, handiwork, child-care and needlework, as well as scripture, reading, writing, arithmetic and geography. Academic excellence and social excellence are traditions in Gayaza High School. It is therefore not surprising that the school is one of the most sought after high schools in Uganda. In 2009, Gayaza High School was selected as the 68th best high school in Africa.
Originally, any girl, as long as she was a daughter of a chief in the Buganda Kingdom, was admitted to Gayaza. Later, even those from rich families were able to enter the school. Eventually the system changed further so that one had to pass both their oral and written examinations to get into Gayaza. Today this is still the practice.
Contact
+256-772-766364
