Eight years after the death of its influential founder, Prof Lawrence Mukiibi, St Lawrence Creamland Campus, is no more. The campus, sources said, was closed a couple of months ago by the school authorities.
The campus located in Nabbingo along Kampala-Masaka Road was opened in the mid-1990s and became an instant hit due to its beautiful buildings and lush compound. It was an A-Level Campus only.
However, we are told that the campus had gone to the dogs and student numbers had significantly reduced.
One of the campus’s old students told us that at the time of its closure, it had fewer than 20 students. These students were transferred to other campuses.
What happened?
Sources said the campus was a victim of the government’s push for the Sciences. This push led to a reduction in student numbers because most of the students at the campus mainly did Arts subjects.
Secondly, we have been told that the campus has been kept afloat by foreign students from Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, and other. When standards began deteriorating and other new private schools started mushrooming, many of these students left.
Third, some teachers left and started their own schools and took kids from, for instance, Irene Lunkuse Mutebi, a popular teacher who founded her school.
Justine Tulina, the Rector of St Lawrence Schools and Colleges, did not return our calls.
Some OBs and OGs said Tulina had not done enough to turn around the fortunes of the schools after her charismatic father died. Some described her as aloof and confrontational.
For the first time in their history, St Lawrence Schools did not have any of their students admitted on government at Makerere University last year.
