Just 1 in 3 African children access secondary school due to it being either unavailable or unaffordable. Many of those individuals who do go experience weak management and ineffective teaching and yet each additional year of secondary education adds 13% to a person’s lifetime earnings - enough to take a family out of poverty. The limited access has also meant that often the males in the family are prioritised resulted in much lower ratio of girls in education.
Working closely with partners and the local government, PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) are committed to providing quality and accessible education to bridge the gap between primary and secondary education. Funding allows new schools to be built in areas where there is demand and once built, the school is self-sufficient and can therefore, operate independently.
In the 2019 UCE examination results (equivalent to GCSE’s) for Uganda, 61% of PEAS school pupils passed with a top grade, compared to 49% nationally, and PEAS schools improved their performance by an average of 11%. This progress was shared equally between boys and girls, a significant point as Ugandan girls often face social stigmas and expectations outside of school, which limit their development.
These results really are a testament to the value that PEAS teams add. All students are accepted into PEAS school including those who might otherwise have been educationally marginalised, so to have achieve these results is particularly impressive.
COINS Foundation are delighted to be a long term partner of PEAS and to be working closely with them to help to create a better future for these young people.
