The visiting team for the 2015 International Friendship Visit to the Humanist Schools in Uganda comprised: Steve and Hilary Hurd (UHST), Andrew West (BHA/UHST), Trisha Rogers (Vice-Chair BHA), Ed Schmidt (Chair, Ethical Society of St. Louis) and Peter Furness (Director, Australia Humanist Aid). The picture shows the group as we crossed the Equator.
We were warmly welcomed at both Mustard Seed and Isaac Newton Schools and took part in a range of teaching and other activities at the schools. Here is a link to the Friendship Week Programme.
The students as always were a delight to be with. They are enthusiastic and attentive and we were all struck by the happy and purposeful atmosphere of both schools.
After touring each school we could all see what huge progress they have made in recent years. The infrastructure has greatly expanded and it is difficult to imagine that both schools started 8 or 9 years ago with a single classroom.
The students treated us to a lively music and dance performance. At Isaac Newton School, the students performed a version of a traditional dance that was used historically at circumcision ceremonies. It should be noted that the boys in each school have been participating in a national programme of circumcision, which is one element of Uganda’s successful campaign to combat HIV/AIDS.
Hilary with Mustard Seed girls
Hilary gave two talks to bring to the school the latest knowledge on what causes the symptoms of malaria and the latest scientific methods to stop its transmission. Steve gave talks on climate change, the economics of energy markets and set up a debate on urban rural migration. The students are accomplished debaters and follow a strict format with chairperson, time-keeper, critic and adjudicator. Perhaps, somewhat surprisingly given the rural location of each school, both sets of students rejected the motion that “This house believes that the Uganda Government should spend less money on congested cities and more on rural areas”. This perhaps reflects the aspirations of many of the students to move to the towns and cities for jobs once they complete their education.
Ed and Trisha ran a series of lessons to get the students to think more deeply about the nature of mathematics and why they were studying it. Trisha, an experienced mathematics curriculum developer and researcher, spent time with the teachers in each school running a workshop on new developments in mathematics teaching. Ed conducted a fascinating demonstration of pendulum swings using chains of students making wave motions.
Girl debating rural development
Although the schools are run by Humanists most students and, indeed teachers, are religious believers, mainly from different Christian churches but also a proportion of Moslems. It is quite a challenge to prepare a talk on Humanism in this setting, but Steve, with support from Peter, did precisely this by presenting Humanism according to the 2002 Amsterdam Declaration principles as a set of beliefs that can be embraced by all. It clearly worked as many students and teachers said afterwards that, although they had not realised before, they are happy to embrace Humanism. In fact so positive was the response that the meeting ended with the setting up of new Humanist Society at Isaac Newton School with the intention of helping less fortunate people in the villages around the school and providing a forum for the discussion and debate of pressing issues facing their communities and humankind in general.
Andrew by the River Nile
Andrew was every present as group photographer. He was pursued by students throughout, who all wanted him to take photographs of them with their friends. He took so many stunning photographs and we are planning to place a link to them on the website.
The visit ended with the presentation of re-usable sanitary pads to the girl students by Afripads. This started as an initiative of Central London Humanists and we have co-funded the provision of pads with them for the past two years. On our last day in Masaka we were taken on a tour of two of the Afripad factories (this will be the subject of a separate blog).
At the end of the various activities were were all sad to leave the schools. If you think you might like to join a future visit to the schools please let me know at stevehurd@uhst.org.
UHST and the Humanist Schools in Uganda have been awarded a grant of 6,500 Euro, which will provide matched funding from UHST towards a Humanist Ethos Project. Steve Hurd is the UK Project Director. The Project Manager in Uganda is Moses Kamya, Director of the Mustard Seed School and other members of the management team are Peter Kisirinya, Director of Isaac Newton High School, Kateera and Robert Bwambale, Director of Kasese Humanist Primary School. Moses is pictured right talking about Humanism at the 1st National Conference of Teachers in Humanist Schools in Uganda.
The aim is to develop a unique Humanist identity for the schools in Uganda. The project will begin with a series of meetings in each of the participating schools. The first task will be to agree on a core set of Humanist values. These will be used in promotional literature for the schools. They will also guide the induction of new staff and a code of conduct for teachers, which all teachers in the schools will be asked to sign. This will include, for example, a pledge to maintain high standards of pastoral care and to rely on guidance rather than violence when dealing with disciplinary issues. This will employ procedures which the schools have worked out with help from a team from VSO which included Chris Smith, a UHST trustee.
The project will also devise strategies for introducing students to Humanist thinking and to embed Humanist values into the governance and practices of the schools. In terms of teaching strategies this will include fostering independent learning using books and web resources, so that students are not solely reliant upon notes dictated by teachers and can learn to evaluate and synthesise arguments from different sources. The schools are also concerned to promote principles of empathy, social concern and active involvement in community issues at local, national and international level. The schools are keen to develop educational links with humanists in other countries.
The project will develop a new website for the Uganda Humanist Schools Association. Promotional materials and powerpoint presentations for use with staff, students and in parent/guardian meetings.
If you are a humanist involved in education and have ideas on how the Humanist Ethos might be fostered in the schools, or can point the Project team to useful resources they could use or adapt then do please email: stevehurd@uhst.org and/or mkmoseskamya@gmail.com. We welcome help from all sources.
I have just returned from a two week visit to Uganda.
During my stay there I spent a lot of time with Peter Kisirinya, Director of Isaac Newton High School, and with Moses Kamya, Director of Mustard Seed School. I was able to spend a few days in each school and talk to staff about the progress of the schools and needs for the future. Attached are detailed reports on each school:
My visit coincided with the start of the new school year and, only a few days before, the Primary Leaving Certificate results had been published. So the schools were actively recruiting the new first-year intake. It was clear that the scholarships provided by UHST supporters were helping them to attract some of the brightest primary school leavers. Competition for scholarships was attracting students with their families to see the schools and to demonstrate their enthusiasm to become students there.
In view of the large distances that students have to travel in these rural areas, the existence of good boarding facilities is important to families. They like to know their children will be coming to a caring and a safe environment where they will have good study facilities and a range of activities to give them worthwhile things to do when they are not in lessons. On Sunday, in particular, the schools offer a range of sports, board games, including chess, music, films and opportunities for religious observance for the few who want this. Families were impressed that both schools had very high quality hostel accommodation and washing and sanitary arrangements for boys and girls. The new boys hostels were at the final painting stage so both schools were expecting a further boost in student numbers in 2015. Both schools were planning to split the Senior 1 class to create two parallel streams.
Both school sites were being spruced up for the start of term. The grass was cut, the grounds were being tidied, classrooms and hostels washed out and all furniture was being dusted down and cleaned. There was a general sense of purposefulness about both schools which are turning into self-confident institutions as they move towards becoming self-sustaining.
The former Fair View School at Mbute, which had been transferred to the ownership of Isaac Newton High School two years ago, is facing a challenge from the previous Director, Deo Ssekitooleko. The school, which had been founded as a joint venture between IHEU and UHASSO (the Uganda Humanist Association), had closed after failing two inspections while under Deo’s management. Deo found a job in Rwanda and for the past two years the school has undergone a renaissance under the competent management provided by the Isaac Newton team, led by Peter Kisirinya. However, Deo has returned and attempted to take over again and the school is currently closed while a lawyer employed by IHEU attempts to sort out the legalities. We are hoping the problem will be solved quickly so that students at Mbute will be able to resume their education as soon as possible.
Posted: June 24, 2015 by Steve Hurd
International Team Visits Humanist Schools
The visiting team for the 2015 International Friendship Visit to the Humanist Schools in Uganda comprised: Steve and Hilary Hurd (UHST), Andrew West (BHA/UHST), Trisha Rogers (Vice-Chair BHA), Ed Schmidt (Chair, Ethical Society of St. Louis) and Peter Furness (Director, Australia Humanist Aid). The picture shows the group as we crossed the Equator.
We were warmly welcomed at both Mustard Seed and Isaac Newton Schools and took part in a range of teaching and other activities at the schools. Here is a link to the Friendship Week Programme.
The students as always were a delight to be with. They are enthusiastic and attentive and we were all struck by the happy and purposeful atmosphere of both schools.
After touring each school we could all see what huge progress they have made in recent years. The infrastructure has greatly expanded and it is difficult to imagine that both schools started 8 or 9 years ago with a single classroom.
The students treated us to a lively music and dance performance. At Isaac Newton School, the students performed a version of a traditional dance that was used historically at circumcision ceremonies. It should be noted that the boys in each school have been participating in a national programme of circumcision, which is one element of Uganda’s successful campaign to combat HIV/AIDS.
Hilary gave two talks to bring to the school the latest knowledge on what causes the symptoms of malaria and the latest scientific methods to stop its transmission. Steve gave talks on climate change, the economics of energy markets and set up a debate on urban rural migration. The students are accomplished debaters and follow a strict format with chairperson, time-keeper, critic and adjudicator. Perhaps, somewhat surprisingly given the rural location of each school, both sets of students rejected the motion that “This house believes that the Uganda Government should spend less money on congested cities and more on rural areas”. This perhaps reflects the aspirations of many of the students to move to the towns and cities for jobs once they complete their education.
Ed and Trisha ran a series of lessons to get the students to think more deeply about the nature of mathematics and why they were studying it. Trisha, an experienced mathematics curriculum developer and researcher, spent time with the teachers in each school running a workshop on new developments in mathematics teaching. Ed conducted a fascinating demonstration of pendulum swings using chains of students making wave motions.
Although the schools are run by Humanists most students and, indeed teachers, are religious believers, mainly from different Christian churches but also a proportion of Moslems. It is quite a challenge to prepare a talk on Humanism in this setting, but Steve, with support from Peter, did precisely this by presenting Humanism according to the 2002 Amsterdam Declaration principles as a set of beliefs that can be embraced by all. It clearly worked as many students and teachers said afterwards that, although they had not realised before, they are happy to embrace Humanism. In fact so positive was the response that the meeting ended with the setting up of new Humanist Society at Isaac Newton School with the intention of helping less fortunate people in the villages around the school and providing a forum for the discussion and debate of pressing issues facing their communities and humankind in general.
Andrew was every present as group photographer. He was pursued by students throughout, who all wanted him to take photographs of them with their friends. He took so many stunning photographs and we are planning to place a link to them on the website.
The visit ended with the presentation of re-usable sanitary pads to the girl students by Afripads. This started as an initiative of Central London Humanists and we have co-funded the provision of pads with them for the past two years. On our last day in Masaka we were taken on a tour of two of the Afripad factories (this will be the subject of a separate blog).
At the end of the various activities were were all sad to leave the schools. If you think you might like to join a future visit to the schools please let me know at stevehurd@uhst.org.
Posted: May 7, 2015 by Steve Hurd
Humanist Ethos Project
The aim is to develop a unique Humanist identity for the schools in Uganda. The project will begin with a series of meetings in each of the participating schools. The first task will be to agree on a core set of Humanist values. These will be used in promotional literature for the schools. They will also guide the induction of new staff and a code of conduct for teachers, which all teachers in the schools will be asked to sign. This will include, for example, a pledge to maintain high standards of pastoral care and to rely on guidance rather than violence when dealing with disciplinary issues. This will employ procedures which the schools have worked out with help from a team from VSO which included Chris Smith, a UHST trustee.
The project will also devise strategies for introducing students to Humanist thinking and to embed Humanist values into the governance and practices of the schools. In terms of teaching strategies this will include fostering independent learning using books and web resources, so that students are not solely reliant upon notes dictated by teachers and can learn to evaluate and synthesise arguments from different sources. The schools are also concerned to promote principles of empathy, social concern and active involvement in community issues at local, national and international level. The schools are keen to develop educational links with humanists in other countries.
The project will develop a new website for the Uganda Humanist Schools Association. Promotional materials and powerpoint presentations for use with staff, students and in parent/guardian meetings.
If you are a humanist involved in education and have ideas on how the Humanist Ethos might be fostered in the schools, or can point the Project team to useful resources they could use or adapt then do please email: stevehurd@uhst.org and/or mkmoseskamya@gmail.com. We welcome help from all sources.
Posted: February 11, 2015 by Steve Hurd
Latest visit to the Uganda schools
During my stay there I spent a lot of time with Peter Kisirinya, Director of Isaac Newton High School, and with Moses Kamya, Director of Mustard Seed School. I was able to spend a few days in each school and talk to staff about the progress of the schools and needs for the future. Attached are detailed reports on each school:
Isaac Newton High School Visit Report February 2015
Mustard Seed Secondary School Visit Report February 2015
My visit coincided with the start of the new school year and, only a few days before, the Primary Leaving Certificate results had been published. So the schools were actively recruiting the new first-year intake. It was clear that the scholarships provided by UHST supporters were helping them to attract some of the brightest primary school leavers. Competition for scholarships was attracting students with their families to see the schools and to demonstrate their enthusiasm to become students there.
In view of the large distances that students have to travel in these rural areas, the existence of good boarding facilities is important to families. They like to know their children will be coming to a caring and a safe environment where they will have good study facilities and a range of activities to give them worthwhile things to do when they are not in lessons. On Sunday, in particular, the schools offer a range of sports, board games, including chess, music, films and opportunities for religious observance for the few who want this. Families were impressed that both schools had very high quality hostel accommodation and washing and sanitary arrangements for boys and girls. The new boys hostels were at the final painting stage so both schools were expecting a further boost in student numbers in 2015. Both schools were planning to split the Senior 1 class to create two parallel streams.
Both school sites were being spruced up for the start of term. The grass was cut, the grounds were being tidied, classrooms and hostels washed out and all furniture was being dusted down and cleaned. There was a general sense of purposefulness about both schools which are turning into self-confident institutions as they move towards becoming self-sustaining.
The former Fair View School at Mbute, which had been transferred to the ownership of Isaac Newton High School two years ago, is facing a challenge from the previous Director, Deo Ssekitooleko. The school, which had been founded as a joint venture between IHEU and UHASSO (the Uganda Humanist Association), had closed after failing two inspections while under Deo’s management. Deo found a job in Rwanda and for the past two years the school has undergone a renaissance under the competent management provided by the Isaac Newton team, led by Peter Kisirinya. However, Deo has returned and attempted to take over again and the school is currently closed while a lawyer employed by IHEU attempts to sort out the legalities. We are hoping the problem will be solved quickly so that students at Mbute will be able to resume their education as soon as possible.