TASAAGA’s student population doubles over the past year while nationally, Uganda see’s drop in Secondary School Enrollment due to rising poverty and post-covid inflation pressures
National Update: A recent article from Reuters highlights the challenges many Ugandan families are facing when trying to send their kids to school right now:
“UNICEF said about 1 in 10 children in Uganda did not report back to school in January [2022], while the National Planning Authority (NPA), a government agency, estimated last year that up to 30% of children could drop out due to COVID-19 fallout.
Factors include rising poverty, children taking jobs, early marriages and teenage pregnancies, which have soared during classroom closures.
Increased fees have been a further deterrent for low-income families to send their children back to school, according to the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER).”
TASAAGA’s Reactions: While school enrollment has declined nationally, TASAAGA is proud to report that due to the generous financial support of our donor community, we’ve been able to weather inflationary cost pressures, keeping our school fees well below the national average for those who can afford to pay and continuing to keep tuition and boarding free for orphans and vulnerable children. In 2023, we saw our enrollment double with nearly 60% receiving significantly reduced or free tuition and board.
More now than ever, the students and families of the communities TASAAGA serves need our support. Thank you to all who have been consistent supporters, we couldn’t do this without you. For those who have not given or have not given in a while, we invite you to join us in supporting the TASAAGA community.
Capital Project Update: School Building Construction and Fundraising
Friends of TASAAGA is currently in the middle of a major capital project to build a permanent home for the Secondary and Vocational school.
Historically, we have rented rooms but we are outgrowing our space and know that having our own building for classrooms, dormitories, and offices would create a better environment for our students and staff. This additional space will also enable us to scale significantly, increasing the number of students we can serve and the amount of impact we can have in the community.
We are working to raise $110K over 3 years to complete this project. In our first year, we raised $30K in addition to our annual operating expenses and purchased the land as well as completed the building's foundation and first set of classrooms. We now need to raise $40K each year for the next 2 years to complete the project.
Completing the construction of this school is an important milestone on our path to increasing the school’s sustainability. Individual donations are greatly appreciated but we know that to get this done, we will likely need larger contributions as well. If you or others in your network have creative ideas for accessing corporate, philanthropic, or other gifts, please let us know! We invite you to partner with us on this effort.
Regional Soccer Tournament Debut
For the first time in school history, the TASAAGA East Africa Secondary and Vocational School boys team entered into a regional soccer tournament, upsetting the first seed team in early rounds. The school and community were extremely excited for this victory and it brought great attention to our school and mission in the region.
While you may not be able to understand Lugandan, take a moment to see our Executive Director, Bruhan Mubiru, and our coach, Zubair Omutendesi, be interviewed on Ugandan national television here. Footage of our team starts at 1:22 and their interviews start at 1:54.
Student Exam Results
Despite the world’s longest COVID lockdown and other challenges from the past few years, all of our Senior 4 students sat for the Ordinary Level National Examinations and successfully qualified for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE). They all returned to TASAAGA East Africa Secondary and Vocational school for Senior 5 this year.
Local Food Partnership
TASAAGA East Africa Secondary and Vocational school has formed a partnership with a local vegetable farm, which has agreed to provide a portion of the school’s monthly produce needs free of charge. Additionally, our students are learning about agriculture and have taken field trips to local farms for some hands-on learning.
Plastering of School Building
Dedicated donations in January allowed us to plaster the entire first floor of the Secondary School - thank you to our donors!