Achievements 

Since 2004, we have worked in 115 schools benefitting over 150,000 children. There has been a 71% increase in enrolment in the 29 Ugandan schools we work with, as well as a 75% increase in entry to Primary Level Exams. 

In Uganda, 94.5% of students in schools which we have been supporting for 5 years or more pass their final exams, compared to 79.3% in the schools we have just recently started supporting. Similarly, in the schools we work with in Kenya, the average number of students taking their leaving exams has more than doubled in schools we've working with for two years or longer. 

In 2010, a total of 68 new classrooms were constructed, while a further 18 classrooms were renovated and put in use again. 44 latrines were constructed and 179 teachers from Build Africa supported schools were trained along with 525 from other schools. 

 

Before Build Africa's involvement in 2002, the 500 children at St. Livingstone School in Masindi District, Uganda studied under trees as there were no classrooms. Classes contained over 100 pupils and textbooks were non-existent. Between 2002 and now, six classrooms, staff accommodation, an admin block, a water supply and text books have been provided. Enrolment has increased by 95% to 988 pupils. In 2006 21 children achieved a grade one or two in their final year exams and the school is now ranked 2nd in Masindi district, a remarkable improvement since 2002, when not a single child was enrolled for final year exams.

Jeeja, Uganda: More than just building a school 

The job of building a school doesn’t just end when the paint dries on the new classroom block. Building a really successful school – one that will benefit the community it serves for generations to come – takes time. Management and teaching skills need to be developed, parents need to become more involved in their children’s future, and the pupils need to be encouraged to stay at school.

There has been a school in Jeeja since 1958 and Build Africa has been working with the school for 6 years. When we started working with Jeeja, it was fairly typical in its lack of organisation and poor performance. But thanks to the dynamic headmaster and energetic school management committee, Jeeja has become a beacon of excellence.

The school is beginning to stand on its own feet. The pupils are enthusiastic and truancy is low, the classrooms are full of locally made teaching materials and the management team, led by the headmaster, is raising funds to maintain the school compound and develop the school facilities. During the last growing season, for example, they used some of the school grounds to plant a crop of cassava which they were able to harvest in 2009. They sold half of the crop to buy a generator for the school and kept the other half back to provide porridge for those children who would otherwise go without lunch.

Jeeja is now not just providing a decent education to the 708 children currently enrolled there, but it is also setting an example to all the other schools in the area.