The Man Behind Generations of Teachers Is Gone

What the report says

Dokolo Post reports that Dr. Henry Stanley Okia, a long-serving principal of Hillside Schools Naalya and a respected educationist from Pallisa District, has died after collapsing at Case Hospital in Kampala while arriving for a cardiac check-up. The news prompted tributes from relatives, school staff, former students and local leaders, many of whom described him as a mentor who helped shape careers and support education initiatives in his home district.

According to the report, Dr. Okia led the Nursery and Primary sections at Hillside Schools Naalya from 2003. His career spanned more than four decades and included work as a teacher, head teacher and education planner. The article says he began teaching in 1980, later taught at schools in Jinja and Kampala, headed Lakeside Academy Bwebajja, helped establish Entebbe Junior School, and eventually earned a PhD in educational planning from Kyambogo University. Even after rising into administration, he continued teaching primary classes and used his experience in consultancy work.

The report highlights his wider influence in Pallisa, where former learners and local officials said he encouraged teachers, supported education planning and invested in schools, including West View School in Pallisa Town and East View School in Kibale. Pallisa Woman MP Catherine Achola and other local figures said he was also a personal guide and community supporter.

Burial arrangements announced in the article include a requiem service at Hillside Primary School in Naalya, followed by vigils in Wakiso and Pallisa, with burial planned at his ancestral home in Kakusi Village, Pallisa District, at the end of August 2026.