How Global Friendships Helped Global Leaders Land #2
Global Leaders Primary School is among the best performers in Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) test scores in their district during one of the most difficult years on record. Here’s how your support made it possible:
When our 42 students at Global Leaders Primary school sat down in March for their Primary Leaving Exams (or PLEs — an extremely high-pressure exam which qualifies students to continue onto secondary school) we prepared ourselves for the devastating possibility that for the first time, in a pandemic year after nearly 8 months away from their classrooms, our students might not pass.
For many kids in rural regions like Amolatar, your PLE is more than just a test — it’s your ticket to a pathway out of poverty.
When we first launched Global Leaders Primary School, we aimed to help equip kids with access to quality education in a community where over 75% of students wouldn’t continue their education past 7th grade. Without completing primary school, prospects for girls in particular often include early marriage and pregnancy, placing them at high risk of falling into cycles of generational poverty. When the pandemic hit, we reached out to all of YOU — our global community of friends, Advocates and supporters — and asked you to join us in solidarity with our friends far away in rural Uganda to ensure that none of our students would be left behind during lockdown.
Together with our team in the field, YOU helped get our Teachers on bicycles and motorcycles to reach their students with Distance Learning tools, helped fuel Teacher trainings on supporting students post-pandemic and gave our students the support they needed to confidently walk into their PLE exams knowing that they were being cheered on by a global community of friends from Colorado to Florida to London and back.
Your support for our students & Teachers through the most difficult year on record made all the difference…
GLP Student Ongom Abel ranked #3 highest PLE score in Amolatar
Last Friday, PLE results were announced, positioning Global Leaders as the #2 highest performing school in Amolatar District, with 86% of our students passing their PLEs in the first & second top divisions! To add to the excitement, we are so proud of recent Global Leaders graduate, Ongom Abel (who we’ve had the privilege of watching grow up since he started school with us in 4th grade) on achieving 3rd place as the highest performing student in Amolatar overall!
This is the true impact of global friendships. During a PANDEMIC (!!!) when schools across Uganda were forced to close their doors permanently, lay off their staff and abandon their student body, YOU stood with Global Leaders Primary school, 8,000 miles away, to prove that distance means so little when someone means so much. This achievement is proof of concept for us at Far Away Friends — proof that big problems can be solved by average people when we approach them together.
Because of the support of our Advocate community and all of you who empowered our Teachers each month to carry their students through this difficult time, the Global Leaders Primary School community has come out the other side stronger than ever.
This achievement is just as much yours as it is ours — Please join us in celebrating by sharing this blog with your friends and community on social media! Thank you for being a part of our work to prove that education is for everyone.
