Five of the 10 beneficiaries of our Equality Scholarship who sat for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations attained the top mark, 8/8. The results were released on July 30th by Uganda’s examination body, UNEB. NBL scholarships have helped to educate 72 students from vulnerable backgrounds who are gifted, with 30 already in university. Four from the pioneer cohort graduated from this year.
The students are selected from districts that grow materials, Barley & Sorghum using the UNEB results data. “The selected pupils are enrolled in the elite Ugandan secondary schools, thus breaking the financial barrier between poor rural farmers’ children and their counterparts from privileged urban families,” shared Clare Asiimwe, Sustainability Manager. This is why the scholarship was named Equality scholarship. “I’m very happy about my performance because my secondary education in a good school in Kampala came by chance. My parents are from a poor background in Oyam district and wouldn’t have been able to afford this kind of education, but thanks to a scholarship by Nile Breweries I was in a good school and my responsibility was to work hard,” shared Ronald Okwera, a beneficiary who studied at Seeta High School.
Other top performers were Kidega Mao(Seeta High School), Stella Nakirya (Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo), Alira Rebecca (Mt St Marys Namagunga) and Bridget Akampurira (St MarysKitende). According to Alira, who hails from Amolatar, it was challenging to study due to the Covid Crisis, however, their teachers encouraged them and taught them “During the lockdown we never thought we could even go back to school but we thank God that we were able to continue. We were also able to catchup due to online studies and discussions with my friends,” she says.
Partner schools where NBL scholars are enrolled include Gayaza High School, Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, Nabisunsa Girls School, Uganda Martyrs Namugongo, St Mary’s Kitende, Seeta High School, Kings College Budo, Ntare School, Seeta High School and St Marys’ College Kisubi. The universities include Soroti University, Lira University, Ndejje University, Kampala International University, Busitema University, Kyambogo University, Kyambogo University, University of Oran1Algeria among others.