Mary Karugire

Ugandan educator who established girls' schools and promoted literacy in rural areas during British colonial rule

Mary Karugire (1890–1975) was a pioneering Ugandan educator who transformed rural education through her establishment of girls' schools in Buganda Kingdom. Born into a Baganda royal family, she defied cultural norms by traveling to London for teacher training in 1912, becoming one of Uganda's first female certified educators.

In 1920, she founded the Nyakasasira Girls' School in Kampala, Uganda's first secondary school for girls, which later became the Kampala Girls' High School. Her 1930s literacy campaigns taught reading skills to over 5,000 rural women using locally produced Swahili primers. Karugire's 1945 book Education for African Women, now held at the British Library, argued for girls' education as essential for national development.

She established Uganda's first teacher training college for women in 1935, producing over 200 female educators by 1950. Karugire's advocacy led to the 1947 Buganda Agreement including clauses for girls' education funding. Her legacy is honored through the Mary Karugire Scholarship, supporting girls in rural schools today.

In 2010, the Kampala Girls' High School dedicated its library to her memory. Her 1955 memoir My Journey Through Uganda remains a key historical source on pre-independence education struggles.