Education (Q3 2012)

Featured beneficiary in the EDUCATION category for third quarter 2012:

KASESE HUMANIST PRIMARY SCHOOL

Kasese Humanist Primary School is a secular school in Uganda offering nursery services and primary education to children between the ages of four and thirteen in the communities around Kasese Municipality. The school proudly states that their curriculum is "free from dogmas and indoctrinations." The school was founded on humanist values and ethics, promoting critical thinking and the application of a scientific approach. This school is the first of its kind in Uganda, encouraging their students to be "rational, innovative, creative, skilled, compassionate, and tolerant."

The school meets the requirements of the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports, teaching mathematics, English, science, social studies, and physical education. The curriculum is also approved by the Uganda National Examination Board. The school offers lessons in arts and crafts, where students learn to create things such as ropes, mats, beads, pots, drawings, and even objects from raw and recycled materials. Students also become accustomed with modern technology through in-depth lessons in computer function, internet navigation, and typing. Other services offered by the school include lessons in music, dance, gardening, and outdoor sports. The lessons are infused with humanist ideas and a scientific philosophy, nurturing an appreciation of reason.

The school is an innovation of Kasese United Humanist Association (KUHA), a community based organization active in several developmental projects in the Kasese district and parts of western Uganda. KUHA states that the objectives of the school project are to both facilitate basic, primary education to children and to provide employment opportunities to the people of Kasese in an effort to battle the high rate of unemployment in the surrounding areas.

Kasese Humanist School is met with several challenges due to lack of funding and a scarcity of support. Because many of the parents and guardians are either of low-income or unemployed, tuition is paid irregularly. Steady and increased funding would allow the school to purchase more textbooks and science education equipment, provide meals to the students, create educational fieldtrips to areas such as national parks and zoos, provide the teaching staff with a livable income, and ultimately open more school houses. A long term goal of the school is to gain a permanent home on the five acres that the KUHA acquired for them; however the land is still undeveloped and currently serves as a school plantation. The Foundation Beyond Belief is proud to sponsor fellow perpetuators of reason and humanist values, and through our joined efforts, we will help provide education to the next generation of freethinkers.