Scholarships
Providing scholarships for bright but needy children
All three schools are in impoverished rural areas where there are large numbers of orphans. If you are able to provide money for a scholarship then it allows a school to offer a place to a bright child who has completed primary schooling but does not have the means to pay for secondary education.
Scholarships, which cost £120 per child per year, cover the cost of school fees, food provided during the school day and a uniform. For day students this money includes a contribution towards general school improvement, which benefits all children. However, if students are boarders, a small additional contribution is needed to cover boarding fees. If the family or guardians cannot provide this it is covered by UHST directly.
We have been concerned to prevent children from dropping out once they have started school by supporting students for the whole of their schooling. Occasionally this is done by pooling single year scholarships and banking money for future years. However many of our donors pledge to support a student for 4 years, often by setting up a standing order or giving enough to cover 4 years schooling upfront.
Each scholarship always goes to a named child and donors are sent some information about the child and a photograph soon after they begin the school year in February. We do our best to provide a brief update on their progress each year. New students are enrolled in February each year and so scholarships given later in the year are usually saved until the next Academic year. The school Directors are responsible for allocating the studentships.
This year 14 students who have been supported for 4 years will take their “O” level exams. None of these students would have been able to complete their secondary education without the generous help of our donors. This number has been increasing year by year and we are currently supporting 108 students.
In order to avoid any hint of jealousy among the students, the schools prefer, where possible, not to identify sponsored students and do not encourage direct contact between students and donors. All the students do, however, know that the school is supported by UHST.