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Humanist Academy
Visit Report Nov 09
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School resources

All the schools supported by the Trust have been established since 2006. They share the needs of many new and other more established schools in Uganda. Discussions with staff and students at the Humanist Academy (pictured below), the newest school which took its first intake of students in February 2008, and visits and discussions with staff at the Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Schools throw light on some of the essential resource issues facing the schools.

Land and Buildings

The Humanist Academy owns a large plot of land on the top and sides of a prominent hill in Mpigi rural district. The land was bought with a grant from the International Humanist and Ethical Union, which frees it from ongoing rental costs. In contrast, the Isaac Newton School pays rent on a large plot of land which it leases in the Masaka District. The rent is an ongoing drain on school funds, although, if money were available, the school has the possibility of buying the land on which it stands. Each school has ample room for expansion and to enable it to grow food for the children and teachers. The two schools are shown below - Isaac Newton left and Humanist Academy right.

Each school has constructed some basic but substantial brick buildings with metal roofs, using their own resources and money from IHEU and Humanist groups in the UK. In 2008 the Isaac Newton School had 130 students housed in 3 buildings: a block with 3 classrooms, a large science lab and prep room (currently lacking furniture and equipment), and a multi-purpose hall which can be divided, with temporary partitions, into 3 more classrooms. The Humanist Academy opened with a first year intake of 30 students and a further 7 forming a small second year class. Students and staff share a 3 classroom block and they are just about to begin work on a new block with a staffroom, office and storeroom. The school has made tables and chairs for the first intake of students but they still have to buy wood to make furniture for 2009 enrollments.

Teachers

The most important resource in any school is its teachers. Each of the schools has a small, loyal group of teachers who do their best to deliver the curriculum. As the schools are small they rely on teachers coming in for a few hours at a time. Only one or two teachers in each school are employed on a full time basis. The funds are limited so, although most teachers are graduates, only a few have completed teacher training. Raising sufficient money to offer secure salaries for well-qualified teachers is a challenge. If they could raise more money for student bursaries it would secure the income they need to pay teachers. The Trust is exploring ways in which donors could sponsor particular teachers. If you think you could help with this click here...

The strong commitment of teachers to the Humanist schools is illustrated by the comments of Jackson:

''I am both a social worker and a Teacher. I teach English Language at the Humanist Academy and also work at the nearby Children's Rehabilitation Centre.

I am very happy to be associated with this new school, which provides scholarships to poor and orphaned children. The residents of the area are delighted that the school has opened to bring secondary education to the area. They appreciate the fact that the school does not segregate children on the basis of religion, as many other schools do, and they know the children are not going to be indoctrinated.

This is a very good principle and I wish the school a lot of success."

Water

At the present time none of the schools has mains water supply so they must pay for water to be carried to the schools each day. At the Humanist Academy water is boiled to kill bacteria and parasites and then cooled for drinking. As firewood is scarce, drinking water is strictly rationed. We are trying to find an economical way to supply clean drinking water to the schools. Buying large filters may be a way forward and the schools are trying to raise money for these.

School meals

Many of the students walk a long way to school and few have breakfast before they leave home. As a result concentration falls with blood sugar levels. To combat this problem the schools have found that they need to provide the students with a good meal each day. Constructing a kitchen and employing a cook are necessary costs but the schools are all making an effort to grow their own food. The students help with this and it provides a practical aspect to agriculture which is taught as an examination subject. In the picture of the Humanist Academy above you can see sweet potatoes that have been planted by the students growing in the foreground.

Books

International educational research demonstrates the important contribution that books and reading make to raising educational standards. Fostering a reading culture is particularly crucial for the Humanist schools, because they all operate in areas where primary education is basic and many students have poor levels of reading and writing when they enter secondary school. The schools appreciate that high standards of reading and writing are important if students are to be successful in adult life. Although books are expensive the schools are aiming to provide each student with their own textbook in each of the main subjects. They are also trying to build up libraries to encourage reading for pleasure. At the present time they are a long way from the ideal and would appreciate assistance from individuals and groups. The photograph shows teachers at the Isaac Newton School inspecting new books provided by a Humanist group in the UK.

There is a desperate shortage of visual material in the schools, which makes teaching difficult. For example, in a Geography lesson on glaciation the students had to be content with listening to the teacher and copying notes from the chalk board. There were no pictures available to show the students exactly what a glacier looks like - even though there are glaciers on Mount Stanley in the Ruwenzori Mountains of Uganda! So the schools are looking for help to buy picture books and wall charts. They will have to wait for audio-visual resources until they have an electricity supply.

Science equipment, computers and electricity

Humanist schools value the contribution that science makes to human progress and seek to reflect this in the curriculum. The Isaac Newton School is the first of the Trust schools to have a dedicated science lab, built with assistance from IHEU. However, although the building has been completed, it still has to be furnished with benches, laboratory equipment and chemicals. They and the Humanist Academy have a binocular microscope provided by the School of Life Sciences at Keele University, and a laptop computer provided by Michelin Development. Keele University staff and students are raising money to foster the development of science education in the Humanist schools and they would appreciate help from others in this endeavour.

The need for electricity is rising up the list of priorities. It would cost £2000 to connect the Humanist Academy to mains electricity and the other schools are exploring the cost of generators. At present the two laptops have to be charged off-site and can only be used for one to two hours between charges. However, despite this limitation, they are enabling each school to provide a weekly lesson to introduce students to the use of computers. The availability of on site electricity would provide lighting to enable the schools to provide courses and activities for the local community in the evenings, it would power a pump to bring water to the schools as well as making it possible to use electricity for science teaching, computers and for audio-visual equipment. All of these things would help to tranform the educational experience of students in the schools.

Resources of all kinds

As we all know, a good school is more than a building. It is defined by the richness of the activities that take place within it. Teachers, books and equipment are important as are the whole range of curricular and extra-curricular activites which the schools offer their students. When the only resource is a chalk board, chalk becomes a significant item of expenditure. While students are normally asked to provide their own pens, pencils and exercise books, the schools also have to have stocks for children who cannot afford to buy their own. Stationery and printing has to be arranged outside the school for essential handouts and money must be found for national examination fees.

In a recent meeting, where students were asked to discuss how they would like to improve their schools, one child quoted his father as saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!" We might wonder who taught his father the phrase but the implications are clear. The boy went on to say that their school had cleared land and made goals to create a footbal pitch and they had a team that had won matches in the local school league. However, their only football had burst so their playing was temporarily halted. They urgently needed a new football and other students put in an impassioned plea for a basketball and net.

All the schools promote dancing and singing, which are low-cost activities, but they are also very keen to obtain materials for arts and crafts. The schools are trying to create school farms and establish stock rearing in order to bring agriculture lessons to life. The Isaac Newton School, for example, promotes pig rearing in the small farms around the school. The Humanist Academy has recently acquired 3 bee-hives and the services of a local bee-keeper to teach bee-keeping to students and people in the local community. It is hoped that sales of honey will become a source of income for the school.

Would you like to help?

Although recently established, the Humanist schools in Uganda are making remarkable progress in bringing secondary education to children who would previously have had none. They have committed and energetic school managers and teachers with a vision for the future. We hope you will want to work with us to help the schools to develop. To find out how to you can provide bursaries to enable needy children to attend the schools or funds for any of the specific needs identified above please click here.