Over the years that UHST has been operating as a charity we have done our best to foster a spirit of partnership with the Humanist Schools in Uganda. Actions taken to support each school emerge from a process of shared deliberation on needs and priorities in relation to the resources available both locally from school fees and from donations by UHST supporters. Our long-term goal is to achieve self-reliance and long-term sustainability, such that schools no longer rely upon UHST funds for survival, and we are left to focus on providing those extras that enhance the learning experience of children in Humanist Schools.
After much discussion, UHST and the schools have agreed that we will play our respective parts to:
Raise funds to complete the essential infrastructure needed by each school to comply with Ministry of Education requirements.
Ensure that local fee income is sufficient to cover staff salaries, school meals, educational consumables and other day-to-day running costs.
Phase out UHST scholarships by 2030 and replace them with money set aside from school income to provide short-term hardship funds and longer-term fee waivers to keep in school bright children whose parents and guardians are struggling to pay full fees. This will be supplemented by funds going directly from Humanist well-wishers around the world to school-based scholarship schemes.
Schools will aim to fund from their own resources:
Educational outings and field trips
Inter-school competitions e.g. sports, debating.
School furniture.
The maintenance of existing buildings and provide new buildings.
UHST will continue, as funding permits, to provide emergency support, help with staff training, learning resources, and other developments that improve learning opportunities.
So that we could concentrate on getting existing schools into a good state we decided some time ago to forgo the challenge of supporting new start-up schools. We hope that Humanist organisations and individuals around the world will step in to help and this is already happening.
Towards Humanist School self-reliance and sustainability
Posted: May 23, 2026 by Steve Hurd
Over the years that UHST has been operating as a charity we have done our best to foster a spirit of partnership with the Humanist Schools in Uganda. Actions taken to support each school emerge from a process of shared deliberation on needs and priorities in relation to the resources available both locally from school fees and from donations by UHST supporters. Our long-term goal is to achieve self-reliance and long-term sustainability, such that schools no longer rely upon UHST funds for survival, and we are left to focus on providing those extras that enhance the learning experience of children in Humanist Schools.
After much discussion, UHST and the schools have agreed that we will play our respective parts to:
So that we could concentrate on getting existing schools into a good state we decided some time ago to forgo the challenge of supporting new start-up schools. We hope that Humanist organisations and individuals around the world will step in to help and this is already happening.
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Category: News