The Uganda O-level results came out on Friday and the performance of the Humanist schools was remarkable.

Although individual grades are given by subject. O-level is a group certificate in Uganda so the important grade is the aggregate over 7 subjects including Sciences, Maths and English. Getting a Division 1 or 2 are important for progression, yet fewer than 6% of students nationally gain a Division 1 aggregate.

The results at the schools were far better than the national average and the schools were among the best performing schools in their Districts.

MUSTARD SEED SCHOOL

7 students gained a Division 1 – over 12% of the students entered.

The school was 5th out of the 40 schools in the Kamuli District and 462 in the list of top 1800 schools in the New Vision national newspaper. Mustard Seed School did have a weak tail end of students and two failures – but these were two girls who joined the school in senior 4 having had a poor education in another school.

ISAAC NEWTON HIGH SCHOOL

The school did even better gaining 10 Division 1 (14% of the students entered).

Because Peter allowed another school with weak students to use his exam centre it depressed the schools place in the overall rankings. In the official rankings it came 559 out of the top 1800 schools and 10th out of 30 schools in the Kalunga District, but excluding the weaker students from the other school it would have been about 300th position nationally and 5th in the District. The Isaac Newton School gained better grades across the whole student entry with very few weak students. One girl missed the exams due to pregnancy and she will be rejoining the school this year to complete her studies – with Peter’s mother and sister looking after the baby for her.

Both Moses and Peter put the success down to having lots of books, which allow the students to study outside class and research additional information to supplement lessons. They have both also started using scholarships to attract students with a grade 1 in their primary leaving certificate – but they pick the most needy from among these.

UHST has been following a “Book flood” policy since we started. There is evidence from around the world that books make a huge difference to performance in rural schools in impoverished areas. The RACHEL repository of encyclopaedic and non-fiction materials on the school computer networks are also making a contribution.

Reporters from local newspapers and radio descended on the schools to find out why they had done so well. Three local radio stations interviewed Moses at Mustard Seed School. Very diplomatically he praised the parents of the area on producing such bright and hard-working students. He also praised his teachers for working hard on behalf of the students. He picked out the good facilities, which the school has to offer and, particularly, the large stock of textbooks and computers meant that students had access to up-to-date information to help with their studies.

Peter, at Isaac Newton, was interviewed for a national radio station. He had no hesitation in saying that having a large quantity of books and science materials had made the difference. The school was too small to provide full-time posts for specialist teachers and the pay they can offer is low. Therefore, in common with other rural start-up schools, he had been forced to rely heavily upon part-time and casual teachers. While necessary, such teachers only stay on site when they are giving lessons, so they are not available to help students outside lessons. The books make a huge difference in this setting. Ready access to books has created a learning culture, where students take responsibility for their own learning and study together in their free time, in the evenings and at weekends. Peter was asked about the Humanist Ethos of the school and the meaning of the school motto “To Reason not to Believe”. He explained that the school emphasises science and applying its principles to daily life – this involves encouraging students to question prior beliefs and subject what they are told to reason and evidence. This he felt was the way for students to succeed in a modern society.

Here is a link to a wonderful podcast about the work of the Humanist Schools in Uganda given by Kate Lovelady, the leader of St Louis Ethical Society:

The Society has become a very successful fundraiser supporting the education of girls in the schools, including boarding scholarships for bright but needy girl students.

UHST supporters are now providing scholarships for 66 students at Isaac Newton High and 63 at Mustard SeedSchool. On our most recent visit to the schools I was able to address all the sponsored students and to chat to many individually. I was delighted to see how happy they are with the opportunity their sponsors are providing them. To obtain more information we asked each student to complete a short form with their age, details of their home situation, their favourite subjects, extra-curricular activities, what they liked about their school and any improvements they would like to see. The information on these forms helped me to update sponsors and correct some incorrect information we had recorded previously.

We are most gratified by the number of students who liked their teachers and the improved infrastructure we have been able to provide and we have taken note of requests for more books, science equipment, computers and other resources.

As we expected, the students we sponsor come from difficult home backgrounds. Many of them have only one parent (single orphans) and some have no surviving parents (double orphans). In most cases they come from homes with no electricity or running water. Day students have many chores to cope with and walk long distances to fetch water in containers that I can hardly lift when full of water. At both schools we were able to visit the homes of students living nearby and were introduced to their parents or guardians.

The pictures show a typical house near the Mustard Seed School (note the water container) and one of our sponsored students with his grandmother.

At Isaac Newton High School we met Leticia and her grandmother (pictured) who lives about 20 minutes’ walk from the school. Leticia’s parents both died of HIV/AIDS and her grandmother, who is in her 90s, cares for her and her two primary school aged brothers, one of whom is deaf. The family are subsistence farmers who have a very small income from selling surplus food crops.

Students who are able to board have a distinct advantage as they have light to study by at night, water is on site and it is easier to take part in activities in the evenings or weekends such as sports, scouting, music and dancing. Orphan girls, in particular, benefit as their personal safety is greater when they can sleep in the school hostel and avoid the dangers they encounter during their lives in the local community and walking to and from school. They greatly appreciate the generosity of their sponsors in funding their boarding in the new school hostels, where they live in small supportive groups.

Professor Hilary Hurd
Scholarships Manager, UHST