Three pupils of Greenhill Academy in Kampala were caught watching a pornographic movie during the just concluded school leavers’ camp. The students; two boys and a girl, were nabbed during the two-week camp held annually at the school to help P7 pupils cope with the transition from Primary School to Secondary School, at the end of their Primary Leaving Examinations.

After these exams every year, Greenhill Academy, an upmarket school located in Kibuli, a Kampala suburb, invites several teachers and counselors to the school to give lectures to pupils on various topics, including adolescence and how to cope with boarding secondary school.  During this programme last month, one of the male pupils, whose names we can’t disclose because he is a minor, came to the school with a portable DVD player and some DVDs.

The pupil then proceeded to invite two friends, one female and another male, to watch a pornographic video on the said player during a break. A member of staff who picked the story from the school’s staff meeting says the pupils gathered at the back of the classroom and stretched their break time right into another lecture in order to watch a movie.

This was until a teacher who came in after the break became suspicious of the group at the back of the classroom that was not paying attention. The teacher suddenly moved in on the pupils to find out what was keeping them busy. In a frantic effort to avoid getting caught, one of the pupils unsuccessfully attempted to switch off the DVD player, but the teacher had already struck, catching all three. The trio was matched out of the class and off to the staffroom, where they were asked to write statements.

A teacher who spoke to us on condition of anonymity says the pupils admitted guilt in their statements and asked for forgiveness.

“They could not hide anything after they had been caught,” the teacher said. The matter was then handed to the school rector who reportedly reviewed the movie and then invited the three pupils’ parents to witness what their children were indulging in.

The parents were reportedly shocked at what their children were watching at school. A counselor was invited to speak to both the parents and pupils. The latter were then sent home with instructions to wait for their fate. For now, the school appears haunted by the incident, with teachers reluctant to speak about it openly or be quoted.

Indeed even the outgoing P7 class, to which the three errant pupils belong, was not briefed on the specifics of the matter, to say nothing of the rest of the school.  The matter has also divided the teachers with some advocating harsh punishment and others asking for leniency. The harshest punishment advocated by some teachers is refusing the pupils from returning to the school even if they pass their exams well enough to join Greenhill’s secondary section.

Others even want the school to write to whichever schools these pupils go to for secondary education, alerting them about this incident. 

“I would rather the school writes to whichever school takes them on so that they are known and helped accordingly, otherwise they should not be allowed to come back,” a teacher said.

But another teacher was more conciliatory. “I can excuse the others who were watching, but not the one who brought the DVD player to the school as it shows that they are used to this vice,” she said.

However, the school administration has ruled that for now the pupils only need counseling, postponing any possible punishment until early next year. Greenhill Academy Rector, Mrs Maraka, told The Observer that it is too early to determine the pupils’ fate as it is not clear whether they will reform.

The three pupils will be praying that they pass their exams well enough to qualify for a good secondary school next year, and that this incident will not blot the rest of their educational life.

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