"Clean water flows with education for a better future"

Providing Teaching Tools and Support Materials that will Enhance Academic Achievement

Quench and Connect works with Ugandan secondary schools to improve academic performance by providing essential teaching tools. After installing a borehole to ensure student health, the organization assesses each school’s needs—often including textbooks, lab equipment, and basic technology, which are largely absent in rural areas. By targeting schools with strong teachers and aligning with Uganda’s national curriculum, Quench and Connect helps students succeed. A grant-funded example in Gayaza enabled science labs, leading to top exam scores and a district science ranking of sixth out of 322 schools.

Partnership with Schools:

  • Quench and Connect works directly with secondary schools to identify and provide needed teaching tools and materials.
  • Engagement begins after installation of a borehole to ensure students are healthy and ready to study.

Assessment Process:

  • Meetings with Head Masters and teachers help identify each school’s specific educational needs.
  • Focus is placed on supporting existing curriculum and leveraging strong teaching staff.

Challenges Faced by Ugandan Schools:

  • Lack of textbooks; teachers read aloud from curriculum texts.
  • Students must manually copy material into notebooks.
  • Few or no supplementary resources like charts, maps, or tables.
  • Limited electricity, especially in rural private schools.
  • Few or no computers, despite a national mandate to teach computer science.
  • Lack of science lab equipment and reagents.

Support Strategy:

  • Quench and Connect seeks donors (individuals or corporations) to provide specific educational resources.
  • Priority is given to schools with talented teaching staff.

Impact Example:

  • The VWR Charitable Foundation funded textbooks, lab equipment, and reagents for a school in Gayaza.
  • The school began offering full science labs and saw major academic improvements.
  • It was ranked 6th out of 322 schools in Science in Uganda’s top district.

Education facts

  • In 2000, the UN included education as a priority in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), alongside poverty and hunger.
  • Education is vital for individual well-being, health, and economic advancement.
  • MDGs emphasized school attendance as a lifelong asset.
  • Studies have shown that education also boosts regional economic growth.
  • These findings help project potential benefits of education in developing nations.
  • Primary school enrollment/completion in sub-Saharan Africa has improved to ~50%.
  • Despite progress, most poor nations still haven’t achieved universal primary education; the UN extended the target to 2030.
  • Challenges are even greater at the secondary education level.
  • Countries lacking technological access benefit significantly from stable education systems.
  • Educating children enhances the workforce and yields long-term societal benefits.

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