UNIFAT Primary School
From its original home under a tree in 1985, UNIFAT Primary School has grown and serves over 600 children. It is a place where teachers and students teach, learn and interact with respect, love and understanding for one another, where they help each other think about the purpose of their lives, and where teachers help students realize their dreams and goals as future achievers and leaders in society. The children are eager to learn, the teachers well qualified and committed, and the school has built a reputation of excellence throughout the country, reinforced by the high per centage of students who pass the national PLE exams and are qualified to proceed to high school. This year, the P7 (8th grade) students achieved an outstanding 97% pass rate, among the highest scores in Uganda, and were congratulated by government officials and recognized in the national press.
UNIFAT also provides employment to its 40 teachers plus administrative, cooking, cleaning, maintenance and security staff. Support for them is largely dependent upon tuition fees, with help especially from Friends of UNIFAT. The school has a dedicated parent-teacher association and active board and school management committees, in addition to many outstanding teachers. They all work hard, with very limited material resources, dreaming of how they might do even more.
Like many schools, UNIFAT faces challenges due to poverty, ethnic (tribal) distrust, poor infrastructure, gender inequities, AIDS, and outbreaks of Ebola and COVID-19. We lack financial and material resources to help us adapt to the challenges of our rapidly changing society.
Among the needs and long-term plans are:
- greater scholarship assistance for students
- improved teacher salaries
- a separate and more appropriate space for the littlest children
- windows and doors for all classrooms
- better textbooks and greater digital resources to meet teachers’ and students’ needs
- a 2nd well for greater access to clean water
- increased boarding capacity to enhance learning in upper level grades
- expanding to include high school grades