It’s official – the results are in and School for Life’s Primary 7 Class of 2020 has achieved phenomenal results despite the many challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown their way.
All 39 of our 2020 cohort of Primary 7 students sat their Ugandan National Primary Leaving Exams (PLE) at the end of March this year, after a significant delay due to COVID-19, and 100% of our students passed their exams and can move onto high school!
Despite the tremendous adversity they faced over the past year, 26% of our Primary 7 students achieved Division 1 (the highest grade in the country, equivalent to Band 1 here in Australia) and 69% of students achieving results in Division 2.
In light of School for Life’s ongoing efforts to address the additional barriers faced by girls in Uganda to access an education and participate in their learning, impressively, our top 3 performing students from the 2020 class were all female students. We introduce you to Rose, Christine and Noeline below!
With almost a year spent learning from home without the many things we often take for granted here in Australia such as laptops, tablets, electricity, good Internet and other adequate tools and facilities to carry on with their education during the pandemic-forced school shut down, the results of our Primary 7 Class of 2020 is truly remarkable.
Their results are a true testament of our student’s dedication, drive and love for learning, despite all odds. Getting their education is key to helping them rise up and break the cycle of inter-generational poverty. Our students know this and they are motivated by it every day.
Even before COVID-19 forced all the schools across Uganda and many other countries around the world to close, our students already faced significant barriers to obtaining an education every day, including walking for hours on often unsafe paths through dense jungle, sometimes in extreme weather, just to reach school. If you’ve ever been to the country and experienced a Ugandan rain shower, you would understand why, during the rainy season, many students miss out on several days of school if they have to travel such long distances without the luxury of cars or other means of transport.
It is our hope that with the construction of our boarding facilities and continued expansion of our schools, that no School for Life student will have to endure these hardships, and they will have a safe, secure and nurturing environment conducive to learning that enables them to successfully complete their studies and they go on to be valuable, contributing members to their communities and their country.
With the completion of our Senior girl’s boarding facility and the current construction of our Senior boy’s boarding facility, we know we’re heading in the right direction to achieve our vision of educating poverty of out of existence.
Without further ado, here are our three students who performed at the top of their class in the 2020 Primary Leaving Exams.
MEET ROSE
Rose lives in Katuuso village, residing in her late grandmother’s home with her four siblings.
Sadly, Rose and her siblings are without their parents as their father died a few years ago and their mother abandoned them to the care of their grandmother, who passed away just last year.
Despite the difficulties Rose has endured in her young life, she has managed to remain focused on her schooling and achieved the highest Division 1 grades in her Primary Leaving Exams, making her the top student of our Primary 7 cohort.
If Rose looks familiar to you, you may recall she is the sister of Steven who featured in one of our prominent videos back in 2016 and we shared his story more recently during our Buy A Brick campaign to help construct a boarding facility for our Senior boys and build brighter futures for these young men.
Steven who is just 17 years old, is currently the head of his household, juggling family responsibilities, caring for Rose and his other two younger sisters plus staying on top of his Senior 3 study load. Rose helps wherever she can, tending to the garden and hoping to help out her family financially by starting to bake small cakes she can sell in the local village shops.
Rose dreams of becoming a doctor just like her older brother. They have already experienced the loss of two prominent family members due to illness and have witnessed first-hand the devastating consequences of the lack of proper medical care, and so this drives Rose’s ambition to complete her education.
When asked what she would do with one wish, Rose told us she wishes to build a beautiful house where she and her siblings can live. And when asked who inspires her, Rose told us; “Teacher Janepher. She is a good person with a good heart, she loves all the people”.
MEET CHRISTINE
Christine has been with School for Life right from the start of her education, beginning at Katuuso Primary School in Pre-Primary (Kindergarten) back in 2012.
We have seen her grow and develop over the last 9 years into the young lady she is today, excited to have the opportunity to start high school and achieve her dream of becoming a teacher. A dream Christine first shared with us when she was in Primary 4.
Christine lives in a neighbouring village to Katuuso with her mother, father, two sisters and four brothers. Christine is the fourth eldest and helps with household chores, gardening and fetching water.
When asked who her role model is, Christine told us her English Teacher, Jessica, inspires her, “because she loves children, teaches well and she is a good story teller.” It may not come as a surprise to you that English is also Christine’s favourite subject!
After completing her education, Christine would like to build a big school in her community because there is only one good school in her area (Katuuso Primary School).
Christine also dreams of buying land to build a big beautiful house for her parents.
MEET NOELINE
“If others can, I can!” This is Noeline’s self-affirming statement and one that speaks volumes of her positive and can-do attitude to her studies.
Noeline joined us at Katuuso Primary School in Primary 6 at the start of 2018.
She is the second youngest of eight brothers and sisters, all living together with their single mother in a neighbouring village. Noeline’s mother has a small retail shop and a market stall selling tomatoes in the village, which Noeline is sometimes found working at if not helping with chores at home.
Noeline dreams of becoming a surgeon when she finishes her education as she wants to save peoples lives. She also dreams of building a hospital in her community and building a bigger, better house for her mother.
For these students, sponsorship of their education has enabled them to successfully complete their primary schooling. A monthly gift will make a huge difference in the life of a child attending School for Life - a child who so desperately wants an education because it has the power to change the course of their lives forever.
If you would like to learn more about sponsoring a child with us, hit the button below.
