"Nakivale Secondary School has an environment that made me excel"
As part of Windle International's new Student Success series, we are shining the spotlight on students from across Windle's five operating-countries who have overcome personal situations to achieve academic excellence. Our first student studies in Nakivale, Uganda.
In southern Uganda near the Tanzanian border Nakivale Refugee Settlement is one of the many communities in which Windle International Uganda operates. As of June last year, Nakivale had a population of 145,000, where only 32% of the population have an occupation, and 22% are youth aged 15-24. Women and children account for over three quarters of the population. These figures show the importance of a functioning educational infrastructure; with over 30,000 residents aged 15-24 and thousands more even younger, it is vital that Windle International Uganda continue their management and support of Nakivale Secondary School, one of 16 secondary schools across the country managed by WIU. The large number of young adults of working age highlights the vast growth potential WIU of programmes like 'Vocationalisation of Secondary Education', that has offered both traditional academic courses and courses tailored towards specific vocations since 2017. WIU is conscious of the positive impact that offering vocational course has on the rates of student retention, completion, and transition to the next levels of education, and the organisation is excited to see what students in Nakivale achieve next.
Gadhafi AbdRashid Nsubuga is an embodiment of the resilience of the students living in these host and refugee communities. An 18-year-old Ugandan, Gadhafi is the oldest of six children and lives in the Isingiro District. Despite having to leave a school in Kampala and transfer to Nakivale Secondary School due to financial restraints, Gadhafi credits his academic success to the strong values instilled in him by his parents, as well as the support from Nakivale S.S. and WIU. “Nakivale S.S has got a good environment which is spacious and conducive for reading and the computer laboratory is well equipped and the teachers used to allow us to access the laboratories even on the weekends,” remarked Gadhafi. As one of the secondary schools managed by WIU, Nakivale S.S. is provided with educational materials, including computers, in partnership with the UNHCR. “The text books we use in the library are labelled WIU and also the computers in the laboratory are WIU, therefore, WIU helped me excel in the Ordinary level final exams”, stated Gadhafi. On the 2022 UCE exams, he scored 14 aggregates, making him the best at his school, as well as the top scorer within Nakivale Refugee settlement. Now that he has seen such great success with his UCE scores, he hopes to continue his educational journey by progressing to the Advanced level of secondary education to enrol in the Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and ICT programme (PCM/ICT) and become an engineer. We wish Gadhafi the best of luck with his studies and congratulate him on all of his hard work!