Early in the days of the Humanist Schools movement in Uganda, back in 2009, when there were only three schools, they formed a voluntary association, which they called Uganda Humanist Schools Association. With help from UHST, the association created a website and ran the first two conferences for teachers in Humanist Schools in Uganda and had a very successful Humanist Ethos Project with additional support from Humanists International.
Over the years, the number of Humanist schools in Uganda has grown. We had representatives from 14 schools at the 3rd schools conference just concluded, but there are at least another 4 Humanist schools that we have heard about.
For the schools’ voices to be heard within the Ministry of Education and Sports, it has become necessary to formally register the schools’ organisation as an official body. The registration process is moving forward, but the registar rejected the UHSA name because it was too close to the Uganda Humanist Association (UHASSO). In fact, the first official at the registry, a Christian, refused to register an association containing the word “Humanist”. Fortunately, after appeal, the following name has been accepted: Coalition of Humanist Schools in Uganda (CHSA).
At the 3rd Schools’ Conference, held at Isaac Newton Schools, a steering committee was formed from among the school Directors and Headteachers present and a draft constitution was approved.
Meeting on the Constitution
Founding members of CHSA
Everyone is keen for the Coalition to play an important part in sharing good practice among the schools and in representing the schools to the wider public and the Ministry.
The final day of the 3rd Humanist Schools’ Conference was devoted to developing a common understanding of Humanism and how to apply it in schools. Peter Kisirinya and I were joint facilitators for the session which included consideration of:
principles of Positive Humanism most relevant to schools in Uganda.
compatibility of humanism with religion, theism, deism, atheism and agnosticism.
The Golden Rule, Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
fostering mutual respect and fellowship in Humanist schools, which welcome children and teachers from differeent Christian and Muslim traditions.
appropriate attitudes towards wearing religious symbols, clothing and prayer in school.
There were reflective and amusing stories and anecdotes from Humanist school directors about how about how they personally came to adopt a humanist philosophy and how they apply it in running their schools. Peter Kisirinya of Isaac Newton Humanist Schools (shown left) explained how his Uganda Biology teacher in a catholic school encouraged the class to consider whether evolution was compatible with religious teaching and how belief might at times lead to a suspension of reason. Robert Bwambale (Kasese Humanist Schools) spoke of his trials as an orphan being moved between Christian and Muslim carers and how he wanted to set up school that respected the rights of the child to become a free thinker. Rogers Muwanguzi (Eagle’s View Humanist Primary) explained how he learned of Humanism as a student of Mustard Seed Humanist Secondary School. It inspired him to start his own school based upon the principles of reason, compassion and self-reliance.
There was a healthy disagreement on attitudes towards God. However, there was a broad consensus that schools should regard religious belief as a matter of personal choice and conscience. What mattered was our behaviour towards each other. It was important to foster an inclusive, mutually caring and happy school community with Humanist values. It was agreed that it is possible to be Christian and Humanist or Muslim and Humanist. Humanist values are relevant to all of humanity.
All present received copies of “Humfry Hippo Moves Home”, which exemplifies the Golden Rule in an accessible way for young children. They also received the booklet, “Developing a Humanist Ethos in Uganda Schools”, containing activities for students that illustrate the Ten Commitments propounded by the American Humanist Association.
The workshop ended with a genuine buzz of excitement among the teachers, many of whom were hearing about Humanism for their first time.
Teachers were delighted and completely engaged with the content of the second day of the 3rd Humanist Schools Conference, whose broad theme is: ” Quality Education based on Reason, Compassion and Self-reliance”. The second day was devoted to achieving high standards of student welfare and of education.
The welfare issue that this conference chose to focus upon was the maintenance of good interpersonal behaviour and school discipline. We invited the Ugandan NGO Raising Voices to organise a workshop to present the Good Schools Toolkit. The kit explores strategies for identifying signs of physical, sexual and verbal abuse of and by both children and staff. The trainer, Mariam Nankiyingi, from a Muslim heritage, was an excellent story teller and motivator. Our audience clung on to Mariam’s every word as she recounted examples of abuse that can occur within schools, including why some seemingly mild chastisements might become abuse when used thoughtlessly and repeated often. The teachers were delighted to receive ideas of a variety of alternative strategies for achieving positive discipline, i.e. the sort of discipline that comes from within rather than by the exercise of force.
There were a series of other parallel workshops given by primary and secondary experts, who were either examiners for `Uganda National Examination Board or belonged to a subject panel of the National Curriculum Development Centre. The primary workshops covered improving performance of students in literacy, numeracy and social studies. The secondary ones focused upon English, Mathematics, Science and Geography.
The conference is going well and there is much to look forward to on the final day.
Posted: September 3, 2023 by Steve Hurd
Humanist schools’ Coalition
Early in the days of the Humanist Schools movement in Uganda, back in 2009, when there were only three schools, they formed a voluntary association, which they called Uganda Humanist Schools Association. With help from UHST, the association created a website and ran the first two conferences for teachers in Humanist Schools in Uganda and had a very successful Humanist Ethos Project with additional support from Humanists International.
Over the years, the number of Humanist schools in Uganda has grown. We had representatives from 14 schools at the 3rd schools conference just concluded, but there are at least another 4 Humanist schools that we have heard about.
For the schools’ voices to be heard within the Ministry of Education and Sports, it has become necessary to formally register the schools’ organisation as an official body. The registration process is moving forward, but the registar rejected the UHSA name because it was too close to the Uganda Humanist Association (UHASSO). In fact, the first official at the registry, a Christian, refused to register an association containing the word “Humanist”. Fortunately, after appeal, the following name has been accepted: Coalition of Humanist Schools in Uganda (CHSA).
At the 3rd Schools’ Conference, held at Isaac Newton Schools, a steering committee was formed from among the school Directors and Headteachers present and a draft constitution was approved.
Everyone is keen for the Coalition to play an important part in sharing good practice among the schools and in representing the schools to the wider public and the Ministry.
Posted: September 3, 2023 by Steve Hurd
Fostering a Humanist Ethos in Uganda Schools
The final day of the 3rd Humanist Schools’ Conference was devoted to developing a common understanding of Humanism and how to apply it in schools. Peter Kisirinya and I were joint facilitators for the session which included consideration of:
There were reflective and amusing stories and anecdotes from Humanist school directors about how about how they personally came to adopt a humanist philosophy and how they apply it in running their schools. Peter Kisirinya of Isaac Newton Humanist Schools (shown left) explained how his Uganda Biology teacher in a catholic school encouraged the class to consider whether evolution was compatible with religious teaching and how belief might at times lead to a suspension of reason. Robert Bwambale (Kasese Humanist Schools) spoke of his trials as an orphan being moved between Christian and Muslim carers and how he wanted to set up school that respected the rights of the child to become a free thinker. Rogers Muwanguzi (Eagle’s View Humanist Primary) explained how he learned of Humanism as a student of Mustard Seed Humanist Secondary School. It inspired him to start his own school based upon the principles of reason, compassion and self-reliance.
There was a healthy disagreement on attitudes towards God. However, there was a broad consensus that schools should regard religious belief as a matter of personal choice and conscience. What mattered was our behaviour towards each other. It was important to foster an inclusive, mutually caring and happy school community with Humanist values. It was agreed that it is possible to be Christian and Humanist or Muslim and Humanist. Humanist values are relevant to all of humanity.
All present received copies of “Humfry Hippo Moves Home”, which exemplifies the Golden Rule in an accessible way for young children. They also received the booklet, “Developing a Humanist Ethos in Uganda Schools”, containing activities for students that illustrate the Ten Commitments propounded by the American Humanist Association.
The workshop ended with a genuine buzz of excitement among the teachers, many of whom were hearing about Humanism for their first time.
Posted: August 31, 2023 by Steve Hurd
Improving student welfare & educational standards
Teachers were delighted and completely engaged with the content of the second day of the 3rd Humanist Schools Conference, whose broad theme is: ” Quality Education based on Reason, Compassion and Self-reliance”. The second day was devoted to achieving high standards of student welfare and of education.
The welfare issue that this conference chose to focus upon was the maintenance of good interpersonal behaviour and school discipline. We invited the Ugandan NGO Raising Voices to organise a workshop to present the Good Schools Toolkit. The kit explores strategies for identifying signs of physical, sexual and verbal abuse of and by both children and staff. The trainer, Mariam Nankiyingi, from a Muslim heritage, was an excellent story teller and motivator. Our audience clung on to Mariam’s every word as she recounted examples of abuse that can occur within schools, including why some seemingly mild chastisements might become abuse when used thoughtlessly and repeated often. The teachers were delighted to receive ideas of a variety of alternative strategies for achieving positive discipline, i.e. the sort of discipline that comes from within rather than by the exercise of force.
There were a series of other parallel workshops given by primary and secondary experts, who were either examiners for `Uganda National Examination Board or belonged to a subject panel of the National Curriculum Development Centre. The primary workshops covered improving performance of students in literacy, numeracy and social studies. The secondary ones focused upon English, Mathematics, Science and Geography.
The conference is going well and there is much to look forward to on the final day.