Last Saturday evening Prince Gabula IV paid an impromptu visit to the Mustard Seed School.

The Prince is the traditional hereditary chief of Bugabula County, Busoga where the school and the town of Busota lies.

Moses Kamya and other school staff showed Prince Gabula around the school, which is a significant new presence in this part of the Busoga Kingdom. The Prince was very happy to learn that the school accepts students from all background and teaches children without any religious bias.

Prince Gabula and accompanying royals were impressed by the facilities. The relative abundance of textbooks and the presence of a modern computer lab were noted with satisfaction.

Before he left the Prince donated two footballs to the school team. In the attached photo, he is dressed in a blue T-shirt, in the centre of the shot.

The Humanist Schools in Uganda were set up to provide inclusive liberal education to impoverished rural communities in Uganda. An emerging spin-off is the schools’ contribution to the economic regeneration of the communities they serve.

The schools are large employers. The wages they pay are spent in the local area, buying goods and services and helping local farmers and service providers. The school, in turn, buys local food and firewood for cooking. It employs the services of local builders, printers and health practitioners. The teachers rent rooms from local families and visiting builders even marry local girls.

To read more see the Economic Impact of Isaac Newton School Report.

In 2013 Mustard Seed School has been approved as a Centre for National A-level Examinations. This comes after meeting the requirements for becoming an O-level Examination Centre in 2012.

The school has had to meet exacting standards such as having a well-constructed school hall with glazed windows to keep out wind and rain during exams. It has also had to build a security fence to prevent cheating and have fully equipped science and computer laboratories.

The school is responsible for ensuring that all of the resources and equipment needed for written and practical exams are available in sufficient quantities. This can be a real challenge when the school is only informed of the precise requirements for some subjects the day before the exam. On this occasion there were last minute flurries of activity to source all 21 chemicals required for the A-level Chemistry examination and a colour printer (why?) for the first national computer practical exam, which was compulsory for all students. The picture right shows tired but quietly confident students at the end of their A-level subsidiary computer practical exam. The picture left shows Moses, the School Director, and Annet, the Headteacher, discussing exam logistics.

You can read more about these and other developments at the school in the latest November 2013 Report on Mustard Seed School.