Israel Inspiration Foundation is committed to supporting families in Eastern Uganda with Back To School support for primary and secondary school aged children. We believe that a child going to school in the 21st century should not be without certain basic items like shoes, school bags, sweaters, and so on.
IIF works with families that have nearly nothing to live on. This means that for them, education for their children is not a priority item. They are barely surviving and cannot, many times, even afford the food that they need.
According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), the dropout rate for children enrolled into the Universal Primary Education system is 68%. The main reason for the high rate is sighted as poverty. This is because there are many hidden costs associated with sending a child to school. The government funds do not cover items like school uniforms, books, pens, lunch while at school or transport to the school.
IIF provides items that are necessary for the child to be able to attend school. At the beginning of the school term, through volunteers and community leaders, we distribute various items to the most needy families. These include school uniforms, stationery and other scholastic materials.
Our Back to School programme is not just for the families that we support through education sponsorships but also to other children in the society who cannot afford to purchase scholastic items.
Universal Primary Education was introduced in Uganda in 1997. Ten years later, in 2007, the government of Uganda also introduced Universal Secondary Education. These initiatives were expected to support families that were too poor to send their children to school. In providing basic education, it was hoped that this would further development especially amongst the most vulnerable societies.