When Gayaza High School celebrates 120 years of shaping Uganda’s most formidable women this Sunday, one name is already drawing extraordinary excitement among the old girls: Anne Magona, the sharp-witted, story-rich geography teacher whose influence still echoes through the halls she left nearly six decades ago.
Now 90, Ms Magona – who was only known by her maiden name Anne Beckett t the time – remains as lively, articulate, and humorous as she was at 22, when she first arrived in Uganda in August 1957 after arriving by ship from London via Mombasa.
“I was teaching at Gayaza in 1965 when we celebrated 60 years of existence,” she recalls, marvelling at the passage of time. “And now we are celebrating 120 years—60 years later. On Sunday, I look forward to meeting the people who have been leading and maintaining the name of Gayaza, as well as some students I taught.”
For hundreds of alumnae, many of whom consider the mother of rugby legend Peter Magona their first role model of intellectual discipline and cheerful authority, her presence is reason enough not to miss the celebrations.
Surprisingly, Ms Magona did not set out to become part of Uganda’s education history. In the late 1950s, she was working for the Lands and Surveys Department in Entebbe, holding the highly technical title Staff Computer —“a human who was machine before machines were made,” she jokes.
Talking to Ms Magona is a numbers game. She was weaned on numbers and mathematics still comes naturally to her but don’t misspell a word or make a grammar error – she is bound to point that out, often with a lot of frustrations.
Her journey to Gayaza began with a simple Saturday morning coffee, she recalls in an article she wrote for the school magazine.
“One Saturday in 1960, I went to the Uganda Bookshop Coffee Shop. I sat next to a lady and we started talking. We soon realised that we came from the same town in England—and that she had been my teacher in secondary school,” she tells the magazine.
That woman was Penelope Carlisle, then a teacher at Gayaza High School. Through this unexpected reunion, Ms Magona began visiting her former teacher at Gayaza, where she met the entire teaching staff, including the legendary headmistress Joan Cox.
She left Uganda briefly in September 1961 to pursue a postgraduate teaching qualification in London. She had believed it was “for good” but shortly after Gayaza and Namagunga were elevated to A-Level schools, and Miss Cox wrote urgently requesting her to return and teach the first Senior Five Geography class.
“I at first said no,” she laughs, “but she persisted, and I eventually agreed.”
She arrived in August 1962 with only limited teaching practice. “Poor S5 Gayaza,” she jokes. But history would prove that Gayaza was anything but unlucky to have her.
Her first A-level class had only eight students, all taking Geography. Two names remain vivid in her memory: Keziah Adroa (later Kay Amin) and Joy Kwesiga (née Mafigiri), who would later become a distinguished academic and Vice Chancellor of Kabale University.
“They did the first Cambridge A-Level exams in 1963. When the results came out, Joy had the only A in the class, and it was in Geography. Miss Cox was so happy,” she recalls.
But Ms Magona’s classroom was not only defined by academic rigour; it was also a theatre of unforgettable stories.
The Famous ‘Anne Beckett, stop talking!’ Incident
One of Gayaza’s most storied classroom moments happened when she challenged an increasingly talkative Senior Four class to let a student take over teaching.
“I challenged Joy Semugoma—who later became headmistress of Gayaza—to come and teach us,” says the career educator who dropped the name Beckett when she married Chrysostom Magona.
Joy hesitated, and Ms Magona stamped her feet. She took the teacher’s place and the teacher hers, with a cheeky Ms Beckett opting to “become the naughty student,” chatting loudly with the student next to her.
The room dissolved into laughter, students curious to see their teacher misbehave. Joy eventually snapped: “Anne Beckett, stop talking and come and teach!”
The entire block erupted, attracting teachers and students from neighbouring classes.
“It put an end to teaching that morning,” she says with a hearty laugh.
Her stories stretch far beyond the classroom. She remembers driving sick students to Mengo Hospital, including the often-unwell Eunice Nyonyintono, who became a familiar face to the nurses.
She even remembers a baby who attended Gayaza “lessons” without knowing it—Alan Shonubi, son of teacher Catherine Senkatuka.
“Alan was only a few months old. We used to push him around in his pushchair,” she says. “He now heads one of the best law firms in Kampala.”
After leaving Gayaza in 1967 for Kenya, Ms Magona taught at State House Road Girls High School in Nairobi, later joining Jinja SS and eventually serving Uganda’s education sector while heading PMM Girls School until 1999 when she joined Kakira Sugar Ltd as Chief Education Administrator and Education Advisor.
She also represented both Kenya and Uganda on the International East African Geography Panel, playing a key role when Uganda transitioned from Cambridge exams to the East African Examination Council.
“Gayaza taught me real professionalism,” she says. “We took on any extra work without any thought of remuneration. For two terms, I had 34 lessons out of 35 because another teacher was on a course. No extra pay was requested or given.”
She muses that modern demands for allowances would have shocked her old colleagues—but acknowledges that times have changed.
Returning Home to Gayaza
More than anything, Sunday offers her a chance to reconnect with the community that shaped her teaching philosophy.
“Thanks to Gayaza High School,” she says. “It was my first teaching post, my breaking ground, and the foundation of my entire career.”
As the school celebrates 120 years, Ms Magona represents one of the strongest living bridges between its past and present. For hundreds of alumnae, meeting her again—hearing her stories, her humour, her unmistakable teacherly precision—will be a highlight of the celebration.
At 90 years old, Anne Magona, who was born on August 19, 1935 in Luton, England, returns not just as a former teacher, but as living Gayaza history. And the old girls cannot wait – although her daughters Christine and Janet will not be among those OGs as they are away.
‘A bottomless database of institutional knowledge’
1935: Born in Luton, England, to Frank Beckett (former Mayor & Mayoress of Luton, & recipient of the British Empire Medal for his services to industry from King George VI of England).
1957: BSc Mathematical Geography from Kings College London University 1957. PGC Education, Institute of Education, London University 1962.
1957: At 22 years old, became the youngest female expatriate civil servant in Uganda.
1958: First and only female member of the Professional Civil Servants Association, Uganda.
1957-61: In-charge of computing data on lands and surveys, including Uganda’s physical features, which was used during the original mapping of Uganda. Also among the team of experts that designed the first atlas of Uganda, produced in 1962.
1962: First European non-missionary teacher at Gayaza High School. Some of her students include Joy Kwesiga (Vice Chancellor Kabale University), Kay Amin (former First Lady), Victoria Sekitoleko (former Minister of Agriculture), Cecilia Ogwal (former Dokolo Woman MP), Margie Kigozi (former ED UIA), and Joy Male (went on to return as HM Gayaza HS).
1968-69: Member of International Geography Panel, East Africa, formulating new ‘O’ & ‘A’ level syllabuses as East African Examinations Council took over from Cambridge University.
1972-88: Chief Examiner for East African Examinations Council, and later Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). Area Supervisor for all UNEB examinations in Jinja, Kamuli, and Mukono.
1975: Authored a book, ‘Objective Questions in East African Geography’ published by Heinemann, who called it their ‘bread and butter’ as it sold so well.
1985-86: First female Headteacher (Acting) of Jinja SSS, the largest school in East Africa then. As Deputy and Ag Head teacher, thousands of students went through her hands over the 19 year period, many prominent in Uganda and beyond, including Sudhir Ruparelia, Tanga Odoi, and even Rwandan leader Paul Kagame.
1989-99: Headteacher of the only girls’ day school in Uganda, PMM Girls School. It had gained a poor reputation as ‘Bufumbo College’ (Marriage Institution) but she polished it into one of the most respected in Busoga.
1990: Founder Member and Treasurer of Jinja Joint Examinations Board, a model that spread out into most of Uganda.
What’s your take on this story?
“It put an end to teaching that morning,” she says with a hearty laugh.
Her stories stretch far beyond the classroom. She remembers driving sick students to Mengo Hospital, including the often-unwell Eunice Nyonyintono, who became a familiar face to the nurses.
She even remembers a baby who attended Gayaza “lessons” without knowing it—Alan Shonubi, son of teacher Catherine Senkatuka.
“Alan was only a few months old. We used to push him around in his pushchair,” she says. “He now heads one of the best law firms in Kampala.”
After leaving Gayaza in 1967 for Kenya, Ms Magona taught at State House Road Girls High School in Nairobi, later joining Jinja SS and eventually serving Uganda’s education sector while heading PMM Girls School until 1999 when she joined Kakira Sugar Ltd as Chief Education Administrator and Education Advisor.
She also represented both Kenya and Uganda on the International East African Geography Panel, playing a key role when Uganda transitioned from Cambridge exams to the East African Examination Council.
“Gayaza taught me real professionalism,” she says. “We took on any extra work without any thought of remuneration. For two terms, I had 34 lessons out of 35 because another teacher was on a course. No extra pay was requested or given.”
She muses that modern demands for allowances would have shocked her old colleagues—but acknowledges that times have changed.
Returning Home to Gayaza
More than anything, Sunday offers her a chance to reconnect with the community that shaped her teaching philosophy.
“Thanks to Gayaza High School,” she says. “It was my first teaching post, my breaking ground, and the foundation of my entire career.”
As the school celebrates 120 years, Ms Magona represents one of the strongest living bridges between its past and present. For hundreds of alumnae, meeting her again—hearing her stories, her humour, her unmistakable teacherly precision—will be a highlight of the celebration.
At 90 years old, Anne Magona, who was born on August 19, 1935 in Luton, England, returns not just as a former teacher, but as living Gayaza history. And the old girls cannot wait – although her daughters Christine and Janet will not be among those OGs as they are away.
‘A bottomless database of institutional knowledge’
1935: Born in Luton, England, to Frank Beckett (former Mayor & Mayoress of Luton, & recipient of the British Empire Medal for his services to industry from King George VI of England).
1957: BSc Mathematical Geography from Kings College London University 1957. PGC Education, Institute of Education, London University 1962.
1957: At 22 years old, became the youngest female expatriate civil servant in Uganda.
1958: First and only female member of the Professional Civil Servants Association, Uganda.
1957-61: In-charge of computing data on lands and surveys, including Uganda’s physical features, which was used during the original mapping of Uganda. Also among the team of experts that designed the first atlas of Uganda, produced in 1962.
1962: First European non-missionary teacher at Gayaza High School. Some of her students include Joy Kwesiga (Vice Chancellor Kabale University), Kay Amin (former First Lady), Victoria Sekitoleko (former Minister of Agriculture), Cecilia Ogwal (former Dokolo Woman MP), Margie Kigozi (former ED UIA), and Joy Male (went on to return as HM Gayaza HS).
1968-69: Member of International Geography Panel, East Africa, formulating new ‘O’ & ‘A’ level syllabuses as East African Examinations Council took over from Cambridge University.
1972-88: Chief Examiner for East African Examinations Council, and later Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). Area Supervisor for all UNEB examinations in Jinja, Kamuli, and Mukono.
1975: Authored a book, ‘Objective Questions in East African Geography’ published by Heinemann, who called it their ‘bread and butter’ as it sold so well.
1985-86: First female Headteacher (Acting) of Jinja SSS, the largest school in East Africa then. As Deputy and Ag Head teacher, thousands of students went through her hands over the 19 year period, many prominent in Uganda and beyond, including Sudhir Ruparelia, Tanga Odoi, and even Rwandan leader Paul Kagame.
1989-99: Headteacher of the only girls’ day school in Uganda, PMM Girls School. It had gained a poor reputation as ‘Bufumbo College’ (Marriage Institution) but she polished it into one of the most respected in Busoga.
1990: Founder Member and Treasurer of Jinja Joint Examinations Board, a model that spread out into most of Uganda.
Editor’s note ; This has been reproduced from Nile Post
