The Moment We’ve Been Waiting For: National Test Results Are In

Last year, Earlybird started working with Rev. Nayenga Primary School in Kamuli, in Eastern Uganda. The students here come from underprivileged families, and many are lucky to receive one full meal per day. This means that they are forced to try to learn on an empty stomach, which makes concentration very difficult. In Uganda, test results play a huge role in determining a child’s future, so these children are at a severe disadvantage and are often unable to improve their situation.

We started by offering our signature Porridge Program, which provides students with a free meal to start the day. However, we knew that providing breakfast was only the first step in ensuring a promising future for this next generation. One of our most important goals is to not just feed underprivileged children, but to help them develop the ability and confidence to express themselves. Education is vital to this goal, so we began providing teaching materials to the school and organizing workshops for art, creative writing, and computer skills.

In the beginning we were working with 60 children, mostly in primary grade seven, as well as some of the teachers’ children, who were in primary grade six. Unfortunately, education is not always the top priority for families here, and we weren’t able to retain all of the students. However, we were able to work with 42 of the students all the way up to the time they registered for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). 

The results from the tests are now in, and we are thrilled to report that the school recorded its best-ever results! Here’s how the students did:

• Division 1: 1 student

• Division 2: 23 students

• Division 3: 12 students

• Division 4: 6 students

• Division u : 0 students

• Failures: 0 students

All of our students placed in the top four divisions, meaning that they all qualify for enrollment in post-primary institutions. It is extremely rare for an underfunded Universal Primary Education (UPE) school like Rev. Nayenga to record no failures in a single year. We are hugely grateful to the teachers and the headteacher for playing such a big part in achieving these results. It is incredibly satisfying to see the long-term effects of our workshops, Porridge Program, and contributions.

As overjoyed as we are with the results, we don’t plan on stopping here. We’re already planning workshops for computer and entrepreneurial skills so that these students can prepare for the next step in their education. We also need to work with the next candidates to make sure they do even better on their PLE tests. We’re confident that we can have all our students make the top three divisions, and ultimately — one cup of porridge at a time — we will get all our students testing into Division 1.

Students during our after school workshops.