First Third of the School Year Has Finished

Tuesday, 3rd May 2022

First Third of the School Year Has Finished

On 10th of January regular classes started again in Adjumani and the first term is already over. The government has now concluded that all schools can return to their regular teaching plans that have been practiced for years. The plan to carry out a special test in May has been cancelled after all. Everyone agrees with these decisions, and everyone is happy to be continue as usual.

Fortunately, there were no corona cases in the first third of the school year, neither among the students nor among the staff.

Everyday life is back and we are all more than happy about this!

Everyday life is great!

They are Back!

Even after a two-year break, the day begins with the usual morning assembly

Monday, 10th January 2022

They Are Back!

As of today, all schools in Uganda have resumed operations. Almost half of the Ugandan population goes to school, so the challenges are enormous. The closure lasted almost two years, making it one of the longest in the world. UgandaKids has been preparing for the opening for a long time. Not only the procedures prescribed by the government had to be implemented. Mask on, keep your distance, disinfect hands applies to all schools. Likewise, the use of rapid tests was banned. These are not available in sufficient quantities and therefore many families cannot afford them.

To ensure that the children are not prevented from attending school, their use was immediately prohibited.

There is now a four-week test phase for all the students. Everyone is starting in the grade they were in when teaching stopped in March 2020. After that the children will be newly assessed. This procedure has been agreed with the parents’ representatives and appears necessary because the children didn’t have the same opportunities to learn. Their way of being able to learn and repeat their studies varied greatly during the lockdown period.

Hilda and the teachers are currently particularly challenged. But everyone is happy that it has finally starting again.

Online Lessons For Scholarship Holders

Scholarship holder Jackline Mazira (18 years old) is online at Biyaya Secondary School

Sunday, 21st November 2021

Online Lessons For Scholarship Holders

Online lessons in Uganda? Is it possible?

Well, a lot of UgandaKids scholarship holders are attending secondary schools who have wanted to try for a week. Therefore, Hilda has bought some smartphones and also took care of the corresponding data packages. Since schools all over the country are planning online lessons, functional smartphones were already available for 300,000 schillings (around € 75).

Another problem is network coverage and quality in northern Uganda. At the moment, many students from different educational establishments are gathering at locations with good network coverage. The teachers are only teaching online.

UgandaKids has so far purchased twelve of these devices, which are available to the pupils and are used by several youths at the same time.

Yesterday the Ugandan President announced on television that primary schools would reopen in January. According to him, 21 million Ugandans over the age of 18 will be vaccinated by the end of the year.

At UgandaKids, all employees have been fully vaccinated for weeks. The younger children have not spent a day at school since March 2020. We are ready!

 

Dispite The Pandemic – Excellent Results

Candidates 2020

Saturday, 17th July 2021

Dispite The Pandemic – Excellent Results

Last year’s final exams should have been written at the beginning of November in 2020. But from March last year all schools in Uganda were closed. It was not until October 2020 that the senior class was able to return to face-to-face teaching with interruptions. The postponed exams were then rescheduled for April.

It seemed impossible to maintain the high level under the given circumstances and to repeat the very good results of the previous classes. A large part of the material had to be learned and repeated in distance learning. Not with laptops like we do or in expensive private schools in the capital Kampala. For months it was only possible to work with photocopies, which were then corrected and returned by the teachers.

And they did it again after all: best school of the North again! 27 first grades and 15 second grades, an average of 1.35! What an achievement – hats off and respect!

 

Final Exams Done – More Face-to-Face Teaching Again

38° Celsius – and threee hours Maths exams

Saturday, 3rd April 2021

Final Exams Done – More Face-to-Face Teaching Again

We used to see them sitting at their desks on their own at the end of October: our candidates for the PLE, the Primary Leaving Exams. But Corona caused a delay here too. So these exams, which are so important for their further development, took place last week. As always, the tasks were the same across the country and so four subjects were taken in written exams in two days: math, science, English and social studies. Because of the masks and the much hotter climate, it was a particular challenge this time. Nevertheless, we are confident that we will experience the best results in a few weeks. In Uganda, good grades not only make you proud; they also make scholarships possible, which ensures help for further training.

Just yesterday we received the great news that from next week onwards classes four to seven can be taught in the classroom again. The situation is improving!

The Building Shell for the Library and the Infirmary Has Been Completed

Entrance to the libary

Saturday, 9th January 2021

The Building Shell for the Library and the Infirmary  Has Been Completed

Finally, a project we had planned for the previous year is now in progress. In the southeastern and most quiet corner of the school grounds a new building is being built, which will be used as a library and an infirmary.

The old library has been housed in one of the oldest buildings. It is very small, and the kids sometimes had to sit on the floor when they wanted to study there. In the new building there is enough space for tables and chairs to study in quietly.

The infirmary is also best placed at a quiet space, it will save costs and will be in the same building. It can be reached through an entrance in the back and will contain two rooms with two beds each and washing facilities. Our nurse for many years, John Tako will finally have his own office to keep the medication and possibly stay overnight.