A. Promote Academic Excellence
According to UNESCO, “Education for Sustainable Development gives learners of all ages the knowledge, skills, values, and agency to address interconnected global challenges, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, unsustainable use of resources, and inequality. It empowers learners of all ages to make informed decisions and take individual and collective action to change society and care for the planet”.
Investing in quality education is essential to lift people out of poverty and reduce unnecessary suffering and mortality rates from preventable diseases. Quality education empowers individuals to become change-makers and problem-solvers, which helps make the world a better place for everyone.
We aim to empower children through programs like Robotics, literacy development, and interest clubs and foster students’ well-being and social, physical, spiritual, and character development.
Early Childhood Education
We have two kindergarten teachers that cater to various levels of toddlers: junior Kindergarten aged 4-5, and senior Kindergarten aged 5-6.
Our teachers have excellent qualifications, experience in early childhood development education, and the passion and drive to care for kindergarten children.
In 2019, the enrollment ballooned to 120 in a space designed for 60 children. The critical need for more learning space in the village has created a barrier to the expansion of enrollment for kindergarteners. We are concerned as the window for children to attend Kindergarten closes fast.
This drastic increase in enrolment has made it difficult to instruct the children effectively and safely. We need an age-appropriate kindergarten infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of children applying from across the community. This space will enable the children to develop in their early cognitive and social development to participate fully in the early education program.
Elementary Education
The elementary school section has classes from primary one to primary seven. The school has 15 qualified teachers and five support staff. The total population for 2023 is 401 students.
Teacher Competence:
Schools in rural areas need help attracting qualified teachers. Female teachers are less mobile than their male colleagues. To promote gender balance, we provide a daycare for teachers' children.
To provide academic excellence and mastery of lessons taught, teachers must have expertise in various competencies, including instructional strategies and practices, classroom management, appropriate assessment, and soft skills.
- We provide two professional development sessions each term to keep teachers abreast of new developments, acquire new skills, and develop good judgment to ensure effective instruction and quality student learning.
- In our termly professional development days, teachers practice peer observation, where they observe each other's practice, share best practices, and help each other continue to promote student learning.
- Teachers also reflect on and discuss the lessons learned to help develop school improvement strategies.
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School Programs:
Literacy Development Program:
Literacy development in early childhood involves helping children build language skills, vocabulary, ability to express themselves, and reading comprehension.
A solid foundation in early literacy skills is critical to children’s academic achievement and enhanced productivity in adult life.
Studies show that children with access to early childhood education are socially well-adjusted and more confident facing challenges. The early years set the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and well-being.
Our library provides resources for reading, writing, and comprehension and for building strong social and emotional learning capabilities. We provide reading and writing workshops to help students develop strong literacy skills. With the help of teachers, students use the books to improve their comprehension, do research, problem-solve, and learn writing skills.
Teachers use the library for teaching preparation to increase their abilities to perform core functions, solve problems, and achieve objectives. They also use the library to promote literacy in the community. Children from the village and students from other schools borrow books and receive literacy support.
We have partnered with Storymoja publishers to support the development of children’s critical thinking, improve creativity, and improve their brain power and imagination. Storymoja also trains teachers to support students using various African children's books to understand and retain what they read and become independent, resourceful readers.
The Robotics Program.
In 2022, our sponsors introduced the Robotics program to the school, capturing the students' imagination. This computer-based program teaches children about problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making skills. Our students had the opportunity to participate in regional and national Robotics competitions.
Robotics Competition
In March 2023, ten students (aged 11-14) participated and won two trophies in a regional robotics competition in Jinja.
The student’s diligence and passion for learning a new skill are evidence of the capabilities of the children. There is nothing our students can’t accomplish if given the proper resources.
International Student Knowledge Exchange Program
ALDO has connected with Ontario public schools (Clara Hughes Public School in Oshawa, Sir John A Macdonald Public School in Pickering, Terry Fox Public School in Ajax, and Cartwright Central P.S. in Blackstock) to collaborate on a knowledge exchange program.
The program addresses the expectations of reading, writing, oral communication, and social studies in two Ontario curriculum grades.
The students from Canada and Uganda are overly excited about the exposure to diverse cultures. Teachers also learn a lot from these projects.
Next steps
Purchase Books:
Currently, five students share one book. For some grades, we have only ten copies per class. We would like to provide each child with a copy of curriculum books in the five subjects. Curriculum books include mathematics, science, social studies, English, and religious education (We teach all major religions.) for each child.
We also would like to provide local readers for the children to expand their vocabulary and improve their cognitive function, critical thinking skills, and mental agility.
Boost Solar Power:
Access to solar power plays an important role in improving the quality of education in rural areas. We installed solar power to help boarding students study at night. The current solar power is insufficient due to inclement weather conditions that limit the power produced and the low-capacity batteries that are easily depleted.
We would like to boost solar power to help more students study at night. This will also save us transportation costs to the nearest town where we can print and photocopy schoolwork.
Additional solar power and large-capacity batteries will help students access valuable learning opportunities, teachers can use the internet to access educational resources and instructional videos, and teachers will have the power to charge their phones, laptops, printers, and photocopiers.
