Closing The Gap

Over the past few months, many of our students have had the opportunity to return to school since the lockdown began. Candidate (P.7, S.4 and S.6) and semi-candidate (P.6, S.3 and S.5) students were invited back first by most institutions. Schools officially reopened for P.4, P.5 and S.1 students on April 6th and 12th respectively.  

Our students missed their classmates and teachers so much and were overjoyed to be back on school grounds.

The S.6 Uganda Advance Certificate of Education (UACE) National 2020 Examinations also began on April 12^th and were officially completed on May 3^rd for all. COU currently has a total of 4 S.6 candidates on program who successfully wrote their exams, including Richard Otim, Jesca Nanziri, Banny Kakeeto and Teddy Nakamoga. Our P.7, S.4 and vocational candidates also completed their final exams. Despite the COVID-19 disruption, many are hopeful that they will pass due to their individual and collective efforts, especially because their schools supported them in a special way to help make up lost time.

Please join us in recognizing our students for their hard work and determination!

Students who resumed school during this period were all provided with personal and scholastic requirements to aide their studies and well-being while at school.

In both Kyotera and Kampala/Mukono, students received: exercise books, pens, pencils, sanitary towels, deodorants, toothpaste, jelly, detergent powder, sugar, both washing and bathing soap and toilet paper. Everyone was very grateful for the added support.

The distribution process continues as students gradually report back to school.

In an effort to help students recover lost skills and get them back on track specifically with their English reading and writing, we also initiated tutoring services. Following identification of tutors in our sponsored students’ communities, we were able to link 17 children in Kyotera and 40 in Mukono/Kampala to professional teachers for individualized instruction. Tutoring sessions were monitored both remotely and in-person by COU staff.

P.1 to P.5 students received tutoring until April 6th when the P.4 and P.5’s resumed school. The attendance was good and teachers noted students being challenged especially in reading and writing, which they paid special attention to in an effort to close the gap.

Currently, there are 5 centers in Kyotera and 6 centers in Kampala with 14 students who are awaiting their return to school. The tutoring was taking place on school grounds, but when P.4 and P.5 resumed classes, it was no longer possible to hold meetings within the premises. Therefore, we shifted the remaining tutoring centers to teacher’s homes.

If you want to make a contribution towards tutoring and/or academic requirements for our students going back to school, now through June 4th your gift of any amount will be doubled. Leadership Circle members, Robert and Susan Bell, have graciously pledged to match all donations to COU up to a total of $5,000. That means, your $50 gift would really be worth $100!