Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (A-level) is the gateway to further and higher education. This year every Humanist school student in Uganda who entered for the exam achieved the minimum of two principal passes required by universities. However, only the following three top-performing students gained the cherished 15 points required for a government scholarship:
Mike Crispus Lwasampijja: Mathematics A, Physics A, Chemistry B (Isaac Newton)
Bruno Muwulya: Mathematics A, Chemistry B, Biology C (Isaac Newton)
Christopher Kikomaga: Entrepreneurship A, Geography B, Mathematics C (Mustard Seed)
Scholarships cover university fees, but students are expected to cover subsistence and lodging from their own resources. Many other students will receive offers of places on university degree and diploma courses, but few will be able to cover the cost of fees, accommodation, subsistence and other incidentals, which can, depending on the course, amount to hundreds or even a few thousand pounds each year. Fortunately for those students who choose to train as teachers or for nursing and ancillary health jobs, there are government grants, which cover most of the costs. Students with lower grades and even a single A-level will find there are many jobs that allow part-time study to gain vocational qualifications. A few very able students are offered teaching posts at the Humanist Schools. This enables them to pay their way through degree courses while the school benefits from their knowledge and commitment as novice teachers.
A-level Chemistry class at Isaac Newton High School
The schools would like to expand their A-level sections. Staff like to have the challenge of A-level teaching and schools want to offer their bright students from UCE O-level the opportunity to progress. However, in the absence of scholarships for A-level study, only students whose families can raise money for fees can continue. High performing scholarship students from poor homes have no alternative but to drop out of education after O-level.
Humanist Schools want to prioritise the provision of Senior 1 scholarships for children who have done well in the Primary Leaving Examination. For this reason, it has been the practice for UHST supporters to be asked to support a new Senior 1 student once their current child has reached O-level.
It is a dilemma. Should new scholarships be reserved for:
Children who have done well in the Primary Leaving Examination and who wish to move on to secondary educations, or
Children who have done well at O-level in Senior 4 and who wish to progress to A-level courses, the gateway to further and higher education courses if they can secure the funding required.
There is a further consideration. If we routinely use UHST scholarships to cover 6 years of secondary schooling instead of 4 then one-third fewer students will receive scholarships.
On the other hand, supporting high achieving students from poor homes to take A-level would not only help those individuals it would also raise the overall performance of all A-level students.
The schools are wondering if they could draw money from overall fee income to offer reduced A-level fees to these deserving students. UHST wishes to help by attracting more money for scholarships. If you would like to help, then please visit our donate page.
UGANDA ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION 2023 A-LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS, published March 2024
Isaac Newton students taking their science practical examination
Students of Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Humanist high schools have done well in their Uganda Certificate in Education (O-level) examinations. Between a half and three-quarters of students gained the top two grade divisions and none failed outright.
UGANDA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION 2023 O-LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS, published February 2024
Grades
(High) 1
2
3
4 (Low)
Fail
Students
Uganda – All schools
18%
24%
23%
31%
4%
Isaac Newton
40%
34%
18%
7%
–
114
Mustard Seed
21%
32%
47%
–
–
130
Performance has improved for several reasons:
Qualified Teachers: As enrolment has grown in Humanist schools, they have been able to employ more qualified teachers and the first teachers employed by the schools have been given financial help to upgrade their qualifications.
Professional knowledge: UHST has paid for experienced examiners to run good-practice workshops in schools and at Humanist Schools Conferences. Teachers within the Humanist schools also work as a team to share professional knowledge within schools for the general good of all students.
Independent learning: Funds from UHST supporters have been used to buy books and computer-based non-fiction libraries, which give teachers and students access to good quality information to enhance learning both within and outside lessons.
Science experiments: UHST has provided funds to enable students to learn science by doing science experiments. Uganda has compulsory science practical examinations. Poor performance in these sets a limit on the overall grade that can be awarded.
Quality of students: Scholarships provided by UHST supporters have brought into the Humanist schools bright children, who have gained the top grade 1 in their Primary Leaving Examination, from families unable to afford school fees. This influx benefits scholarship holders and they, in turn, help to raise the educational level for other students in their class.
Everyone was on tenterhooks at Kanungu Humanist Primary School as they waited to receive their first ever Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results. They need not have worried as 81.8% of the children gained either a Division 1 or a Division 2 grade[1], which help in progress to secondary school and to obtain jobs in the formal sector of Uganda’s economy. As we can see from the photograph above, the children were jubilant and they and their teachers deserve the highest praise.
As we can see from the table, all the Humanist Schools performed far better than the national average of 57.7% gaining Division 1 or 2. The full results are in the table at the end.
Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed primary schools were created as recently as 2021. In their former incarnation as Evangelical Christian and Muslim foundations respectively, Division 1 grades were almost unknown. Yet after becoming a Humanist school, the top Division 1 grade was gained by 52.4 of children Isaac Newton and 30.4% at Mustard Seed primaries (compared with only 12% nationally. Eagle’s View School, poorly resourced and using temporary classrooms made from corrugated sheets, had 100% of its children gaining Division 1 or 2.
Similar results were obtained in the remote mountain village of Katumba, where UHST supporters have built an entirely new school and equipped it with books and computers.
The very success of the Humanist primary schools is creating a challenge for UHST. We have been trying to provide scholarships to enable children from poorer homes who gain Division 1 in PLE to progress to a Humanist high school. So many this year have achieved such grades that we will have to disappoint many of them.
If you would like to help then we are seeking to find an extra 10 scholarships to enable all those children who are eligible from the Humanist primary schools to proceed. Details of how to set up a scholarship can be found here.
Here is the full breakdown of results.
[1] PLE has 4 pass divisions and a lower unclassified one. Division 1 is the highest grade.
Posted: March 29, 2024 by Steve Hurd
A-level scholarships dilemma
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (A-level) is the gateway to further and higher education. This year every Humanist school student in Uganda who entered for the exam achieved the minimum of two principal passes required by universities. However, only the following three top-performing students gained the cherished 15 points required for a government scholarship:
Mike Crispus Lwasampijja: Mathematics A, Physics A, Chemistry B (Isaac Newton)
Bruno Muwulya: Mathematics A, Chemistry B, Biology C (Isaac Newton)
Christopher Kikomaga: Entrepreneurship A, Geography B, Mathematics C (Mustard Seed)
Scholarships cover university fees, but students are expected to cover subsistence and lodging from their own resources. Many other students will receive offers of places on university degree and diploma courses, but few will be able to cover the cost of fees, accommodation, subsistence and other incidentals, which can, depending on the course, amount to hundreds or even a few thousand pounds each year. Fortunately for those students who choose to train as teachers or for nursing and ancillary health jobs, there are government grants, which cover most of the costs. Students with lower grades and even a single A-level will find there are many jobs that allow part-time study to gain vocational qualifications. A few very able students are offered teaching posts at the Humanist Schools. This enables them to pay their way through degree courses while the school benefits from their knowledge and commitment as novice teachers.
The schools would like to expand their A-level sections. Staff like to have the challenge of A-level teaching and schools want to offer their bright students from UCE O-level the opportunity to progress. However, in the absence of scholarships for A-level study, only students whose families can raise money for fees can continue. High performing scholarship students from poor homes have no alternative but to drop out of education after O-level.
Humanist Schools want to prioritise the provision of Senior 1 scholarships for children who have done well in the Primary Leaving Examination. For this reason, it has been the practice for UHST supporters to be asked to support a new Senior 1 student once their current child has reached O-level.
It is a dilemma. Should new scholarships be reserved for:
There is a further consideration. If we routinely use UHST scholarships to cover 6 years of secondary schooling instead of 4 then one-third fewer students will receive scholarships.
On the other hand, supporting high achieving students from poor homes to take A-level would not only help those individuals it would also raise the overall performance of all A-level students.
The schools are wondering if they could draw money from overall fee income to offer reduced A-level fees to these deserving students. UHST wishes to help by attracting more money for scholarships. If you would like to help, then please visit our donate page.
UGANDA ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION
2023 A-LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS, published March 2024
= or better than
minimum
university
requirement
Posted: March 28, 2024 by Steve Hurd
Humanist high schools shine
Students of Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed Humanist high schools have done well in their Uganda Certificate in Education (O-level) examinations. Between a half and three-quarters of students gained the top two grade divisions and none failed outright.
UGANDA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION
2023 O-LEVEL EXAMINATION RESULTS, published February 2024
Performance has improved for several reasons:
Posted: January 31, 2024 by Steve Hurd
Jubilation in Humanist Primary Schools
Everyone was on tenterhooks at Kanungu Humanist Primary School as they waited to receive their first ever Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results. They need not have worried as 81.8% of the children gained either a Division 1 or a Division 2 grade[1], which help in progress to secondary school and to obtain jobs in the formal sector of Uganda’s economy. As we can see from the photograph above, the children were jubilant and they and their teachers deserve the highest praise.
As we can see from the table, all the Humanist Schools performed far better than the national average of 57.7% gaining Division 1 or 2. The full results are in the table at the end.
Isaac Newton and Mustard Seed primary schools were created as recently as 2021. In their former incarnation as Evangelical Christian and Muslim foundations respectively, Division 1 grades were almost unknown. Yet after becoming a Humanist school, the top Division 1 grade was gained by 52.4 of children Isaac Newton and 30.4% at Mustard Seed primaries (compared with only 12% nationally. Eagle’s View School, poorly resourced and using temporary classrooms made from corrugated sheets, had 100% of its children gaining Division 1 or 2.
Similar results were obtained in the remote mountain village of Katumba, where UHST supporters have built an entirely new school and equipped it with books and computers.
The very success of the Humanist primary schools is creating a challenge for UHST. We have been trying to provide scholarships to enable children from poorer homes who gain Division 1 in PLE to progress to a Humanist high school. So many this year have achieved such grades that we will have to disappoint many of them.
If you would like to help then we are seeking to find an extra 10 scholarships to enable all those children who are eligible from the Humanist primary schools to proceed. Details of how to set up a scholarship can be found here.
Here is the full breakdown of results.
[1] PLE has 4 pass divisions and a lower unclassified one. Division 1 is the highest grade.