The school is located in Nyakasura, off the Fort Portal-Bundibugyo Road, approximately 6.5 kilometres, north-west of the central business district of Fort Portal.
The school was founded by Scotsman Ernest Ebohard Calwell, a retired naval officer, in 1926.
Calwell was a teacher at King’s College Budo when he fell out with the headmaster there. They had differences on what uniform the students should wear. There were two students from Toro Kingdom at Buddo at that time, by the names of Komwiswa and Byara.
They convinced Calwell to come and ask the Omukama of Toro for land to set up a school like Buddo in Toro. Rukirabasaija Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe III showed the Calwell three sites, out of which he selected Nyakasura. He selected Scottish kilts as the boys’ uniform.
Discussions on social media began after it turned out that male pupils at a school in Uganda were compelled to wear “skirts” as part of their uniform.
People have been perplexed as to why male pupils at Nyakasura School, a mixed-boarding and day high school in Western Uganda, are deviating from convention and dressing in skirts.
However, the principal of the school has intervened to set the record straight, alleging that the idea behind their school uniform is being misunderstood.
The skirt-like clothing is actually a kilt, a traditional Scottish men’s outfit, according to the school principal.
He disclosed that Ernest William Calwell, a Scottish missionary who resided in the region during the colonial era, created the school in 1926.
“They are not skirts they are called Kilt as garment resembling a skirt traditionally worn by men in the Scottish culture,” he said.
“This school has a great history but the history is linked to Scotland and Colwell came to this area because of disagreements because he wanted to introduce this to schools but people called the skirts but they are not skirts they are called kilts.”
A Form Four student claims that, although experiencing culture shock upon entering the school, he eventually grew acclimated to the dress code as he came to understand its meaning.
“Normally when I talk about my uniform and when they see students putting on a kilt. Most of the time they say that we are dressed like girls but for me I have no problem with it because I have live with it for four years,” he said.
