Bright Future Nursery and Primary School
The school aims to improve the well being of children in the Albert region, especially those who can’t afford to safely go to school. There are many reasons for these problems. The nearest government school is far away and it is not safe for the kids walking to it because Baboons attack the kids on their way to and from the school. There are no funds to transport the kids safely through the Baboon area. There are also the biases of African culture where girls have to remain home to work in the kitchen and boys have to look after the goats, cows, and sheep at home. Due to the long walk to the nearest school, few children of the village were able to attend school.
In 2013 the community formed the Mubaku Community Conservation Organization (MUCCO), a not-for-profit Community Based Organization (CBO). The community determines what the cost per student would be to each parent. Then in 2014, enough parents signed up to hire the first teacher and MUCCO was able to start the school. The first classes were held under a tree. Initially, they had to stop enrollment at 73 Children as the school only had one teacher. In 2015 the school added two more teachers and was able to build a mud and stick shade structure. Attendance was 135 kids in 2018 and by the fall of 2019 with the completion of the first building was 205
Bright Future Nursery School is three years of schooling that covers the ages three to six. It corresponds to the USA preschool and kindergarten.
Bright Future Primary School is seven years of education starting at age six. There are levels are referred to as Primary One to Primary Seven. With normal annual progression, the children are thirteen when they graduate, but often students have to drop out for awhile, so it is not usually to find teenagers sitting in the classroom. At the end of Primary Seven students take their first major national exam called the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). PLEs have four subjects English Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
The children have a PE day each week where they play games and form teams to compete with each other. The students wear different colored shirts with their team’s animal on the back.
For more on the levels of education in Uganda go to https://www.theguardian.com/katine/2010/feb/08/education-system-explainer
In 2018 Mubaku Educational Foundation (MEF) was formed to raise funds for the school from donors in North America and Europe.
Our Facilities
In 2014 the Mama Africa group purchased the land which enabled MUCCO to build the shade structure. The shade structure allows us to keep on teaching when the weather turns wet. But it does not block the noise from one classroom to another.
The four primary classrooms building (Completed 2019)
The initial goal was to build a four room schoolhouse with blackboards and desks for the students. MUCCO decided to build the school as they received the funds.
In 2016 a tourist helped MUCCO buy six acres to build a permanent structure and fields for the school. The land is about 600 meters from the original location. Later in 2016 another tourist gave MUCCO enough money to create plans for the school and then build the foundations of the school. MUCCO projected it would be anywhere from five to ten years to raise the funds to build the first permanent building.
In October 2018 MEF began raising the funds to complete the entire structure. MUCCO used local labor and materials to help the Village of Mubaku as a side benefit. The four classroom building was completed in August 2018. On September 8, 2019, the new building was dedicated.
Click here to view all construction progress photos for the first building
The three nursery classrooms and Women’s Empowerment Center building (Started March 2020)
The next goal of the school is to build three nursery age classrooms and a Women’s Empowerment Center. he Women’s Empowerment Center will be where women from the village will be able to make and sell crafts to help support the school and their families while their children attend the Nursery School.
This new building will be named in honor of Nancy Wright, a long-time supporter of the school. Nancy passed away shortly after attending the dedication of the Primary School Classroom Building on September 8, 2019. The people of Mubaku village have requested that the new building be named in her honor. Read more about Nancy’s contribution to Mubaku in our November 2019 Mubaku Educational Foundation Newsletter #2.
Contribute to the building of this facility
Click here to view all construction progress photos for the new building
Some of the Costs of Running Bright Future Nursery and Primary School
Books range from 15,000 Ugandan Shillings (UGX) which is roughly $4 USD to 35,000 UGX, roughly $10 USD per book.
A roll of fabric to make uniforms goes for 380,000 UGX, roughly $100 USD. A roll makes s42 dresses + 22 pairs of boys pants. However, since the village does not own any sewing machines, the sewing is done elsewhere. A durable sewing machine that costs $208 is part of the plans for a future women empowerment center.
We feed every child, every day. To feed 115 children it takes 6 kg (13 1/3 lbs) of maize (corn) flour. That costs about 18,000 UGX , roughly $5 USD per day.
The cost to sponsor a child for a year is $50 USD. Currently, almost 93 of our 205 students are sponsored.
2020 School Schedule
The first term was suspended do to COVID-19 on March 22, 2020. We do not know when school will resume at this time. This was the schedule for 2020
Start | End | |
Term one | 3rd Feb, 2020 | Ended early on March 16, 2020 due to COVID-19 |
Term Two | 22nd June, 2020 | 4th Sept, 2020 |
Term Three | 21st Sept, 2020 | 19th, Dec 2020 |
Our Enrollment February 2020
Boys | Girls | Total | |
Baby Class | 14 | 20 | 34 |
Middle Class | 8 | 16 | 24 |
Top Glass | 18 | 10 | 28 |
Primary 1 | 16 | 11 | 27 |
Primary 2 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
Primary 3 | 12 | 15 | 27 |
Primary 4 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
Primary 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
Primary 6 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
Total | 99 | 107 | 206 |