By providing our software and support on a no fee basis, SchoolPRO, along with SEQTA Software, supports School for Life, a not-for-profit organisation operating in rural Uganda. Building schools and providing quality education, School for Life works daily to empower individuals to bring about positive change in their community. Thank you to Jessica, one of the School for Life team, who took some time to participate in our Q&A.
1. Can you tell us why you decided to work with School for Life in Uganda?
School for Life is a grassroots organisation growing immensely every day. When I saw the opportunity to work with them I knew I wanted to be part of its growth. My knowledge in the international development sector and experience working and living in other developing countries made it an exciting opportunity!
2. What is your role with School for Life? What does it involve?
I am the Program Manager at School for Life. I work across Uganda and Sydney ensuring our education programs are running effectively and efficiently and we are maximising impact. My role involves overseeing the projects and the monitoring and evaluation to record our impact.
3. What does a typical day look like at a School for Life campus?
The students start arriving to school at 7am for their morning porridge after sometimes walking over 1 hour to get to school. The bell rings and the students file into their classes learning about maths, English, geography and science. At 10am the students break for morning tea where they may have doughnuts or fruit. We have time for the students to read and also visit the library. At 12.30pm the students break for lunch and then they have the chance to play in the playground, the older students love a game of soccer. They then finish the day with more classes and maybe some art and crafts. At the end of the day the students walk home.
4. How does having software like SchoolPRO help your school in day to day operations?
SchoolPRO is a fantastic support allowing us to manage our students’ administration. Previously all the data was recorded on paper so it has made a huge difference to our record keeping system. We record data such as attendance, medical history and parents’ information. It is a functional system which all the teachers can use to input the attendance data daily. The data that is captured in SchoolPRO is essential for the on-going monitoring and evaluation of our projects in Uganda.
5. How can our readers become involved with School for Life?
School for Life has many fantastic ways to get involved! We have a child sponsorship program, an ambassador program and challenge events such as the possibility of climbing Kilimanjaro with us, or holding your own event and raising money for School for Life. All information can be found on our website www.schoolforlife.org.au.
Jessica Ledieu