Students of Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Humanist high schools have done well in their Uganda Certificate in Education (O-level) examinations. Between a half and three-quarters of students gained the top two grade divisions and none failed outright.

UGANDA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION
2023 O-LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS, published February 2024

Performance has improved for several reasons:

• Qualified Teachers: As enrolment has grown in Humanist schools, they have been able to employ more qualified teachers and the first teachers employed by the schools have been given financial help to upgrade their qualifications.
• Professional knowledge: UHST has paid for experienced examiners to run good-practice workshops in schools and at Humanist Schools Conferences. Teachers within the Humanist schools also work as a team to share professional knowledge within schools for the general good of all students.
• Independent learning: Funds from UHST supporters have been used to buy books and computer-based non-fiction libraries, which give teachers and students access to good quality information to enhance learning both within and outside lessons.
• Science experiments: UHST has provided funds to enable students to learn science by doing science experiments. Uganda has compulsory science practical examinations. Poor performance in these sets a limit on the overall grade that can be awarded.
• Quality of students: Scholarships provided by UHST supporters have brought into the Humanist schools bright children, who have gained the top grade 1 in their Primary Leaving Examination, from families unable to afford school fees. This influx benefits scholarship holders and they, in turn, help to raise the educational level for other students in their class. 

Everyone was on tenterhooks at Kanungu Humanist Primary School as they waited to receive their first ever Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results. They need not have worried as 81.8% of the children gained either a Division 1 or a Division 2 grade^[1], which help in progress to secondary school and to obtain jobs in the formal sector of Uganda’s economy. As we can see from the photograph above, the children were jubilant and they and their teachers deserve the highest praise.

As we can see from the table, all the Humanist Schools performed far better than the national average of 57.7% gaining Division 1 or 2. The full results are in the table at the end.

Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed primary schools were created as recently as 2021. In their former incarnation as Evangelical Christian and Muslim foundations respectively, Division 1 grades were almost unknown. Yet after becoming a Humanist school, the top Division 1 grade was gained by 52.4 of children Isaac Newton and 30.4% at Mustard Seed primaries (compared with only 12% nationally. Eagle’s View School, poorly resourced and using temporary classrooms made from corrugated sheets, had 100% of its children gaining Division 1 or 2. 

Similar results were obtained in the remote mountain village of Katumba, where UHST supporters have built an entirely new school and equipped it with books and computers.

The very success of the Humanist primary schools is creating a challenge for UHST. We have been trying to provide scholarships to enable children from poorer homes who gain Division 1 in PLE to progress to a Humanist high school. So many this year have achieved such grades that we will have to disappoint many of them. 

If you would like to help then we are seeking to find an extra 10 scholarships to enable all those children who are eligible from the Humanist primary schools to proceed. Details of how to set up a scholarship can be found here.

Here is the full breakdown of results.

^[1] PLE has 4 pass divisions and a lower unclassified one. Division 1 is the highest grade.

UHST Trustees have approved our first major infrastructure investment at Kasese Humanist Schools. We have agreed to help Robert Bwambale by funding the restructuring and refurbishment of the boys’ and girls’ dormitories at Municipal Humanist High School. The dormitories each sleep up to 25 students and the improvements will enable the school to attract fee paying boarders from further afield. Their availability will give those children who gain grade 1 in their primary leaving examinations at Katumba and Kanungu Humanist Schools the additional option of continuing their education in a Humanist high school in Kasese, which is closer to home.

The plan is to divide the two dormitories into family rooms, each with 4 double bunks to accommodate 8 children. Each room will have ceiling to keep down noise and to inhibit the spread of fire and diseases like malaria. General repairs will be carried out including improvements in walls and floors and repainting. Additional toilets and wash rooms will be constructed so that children will no longer need to wander across the school site in the middle of the night. Fire extinguishers and alarms will be fitted to improve fire safety.

Work will begin immediately and the aim is to have it compelted for the start of term in February.