School History

Uphill Junior School started life in February 2011 as a privately owned charity kindergarten, founded and funded by Muhimbise Elius, a trained teacher, and his cousin Kukundakwe Patrick, an Officer of the Uganda Police.

Parents and guardians of children at the kindergarten were so pleased with the quality of education being provided by Uphill that they persuaded Elius to open a primary section to continue their children’s progress. Each year the school added another year group until, in 2017, Primary 7 was inaugurated and for the first time the children sat the Primary Leavers Examination – a national examination designed to be taken by all Ugandan school children at the end of the Primary phase of education.

The school activity encourages the education of girls as well as boys and believes firmly in equal opportunities for all.

Uphill Junior School has a clear administration structure:

As School Director, Elius is assisted by the Headteacher and Bursar and guided by the School Management Committee which is made up of nine Elders from the community who are democratically elected by the parents. We at The Uphill Trust communicate directly and frequently with Elius and he provides regular reports on the progress of the school plus a formal annual School Status Report.  Uphill Junior School currently employs 14 staff with teaching/administrative responsibilities. A School Nurse joined the staff in May 2018.

Most of the children who attend the school are from poor rural homes and this poverty, along with the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS, means that a significant number are either orphans or from single parent families.

Where is Uphill Junior School?

Fees have been set by the school at a very low level even by rural Ugandan standards to enable as many families as possible in this subsistence level community to access the benefits of a good educational foundation for their children. Single parent families are subsidised with orphans and other severely disadvantaged children receiving a free education. The fees collected by the school are used to:

• provide local housing for the teachers
• rent a unit which serves as a secure school office until the new school administration building is completed in 2018
• buy the many sets of National Examination papers required to assess the children’s progress throughout the school year
• pay for foodstuffs and a cook to provide staff and some pupils with meals
• pay boda (taxi motorcyle) fares for school officials to travel to Fort Portal on school business

The Uphill Trust has taken responsibility for ensuring that teachers’ salaries are paid reliably so that the staffing levels for the school are more stable.

Would you like to help us to keep a good teacher at Uphill Junior School?

The School Director is working with the Inspector of Schools to ensure that the quality of education, administration and record-keeping systems meet the required standard and the Community Development Officer for the local area is also providing guidance. As a consequence of the ongoing school build project, the school and trust have developed excellent working relationships with the government planning and licensing authorities which will ensure that Uphill Junior School is in full compliance with Uganda’s new school regulations.

Meet the Uphill Teachers