A Brighter Future for Children

Welcome to the Tara School Inc. newsletter. We will use this to periodically update you on our organization and the progress of our school and our students.

Our Mission

We strive to promote the value of learning and setting higher expectations of self and to transition students to productive and responsible leaders in their communities.

Our History

Tara School Inc. was the brainchild of Richard Kara, who spent his early childhood in Uganda, before moving to Kenya for high school and then to the US for post-secondary education. During a volunteer service trip back to Zambia in 2006, Richard was inspired to do more - to give back to his native African communities. The children he met during that trip reminded him of his childhood days - playing soccer in dusty pastures, and managing with limited access to what we in the developed world would consider “basic” resources – where running water, balanced nutrition and access to good education were considered a luxury. One significant difference was that he was fortunate enough to have opportunities to reach his full potential. Most of these kids did not.

That volunteer experience in Zambia stayed with him for a while as he contemplated what he could do to make a difference. In 2012, he decided to start a non-profit organization, Tara School Inc to provide early childhood education in rural disadvantaged communities.

Our Community

Namutumba, Uganda was selected as the location for the first school that would be built under the Tara School Inc. umbrella. Namutumba sits approximately 96 miles (~3.5 hour drive) outside of the capital city of Kampala and about 46 miles (~1.5 hour drive) from Jinja, which is the largest city in that sub-region and the city where our founder, Dr. Richard Kara spent his early childhood.

Here are some statistics from the Namutumba district’s 2014 Census Report:

• One in every 8 children ages 6-12 were not in school
• One in every 15 girls 12-17 had been married
• One in every 16 girls 12-17 had already given birth
• Only 5.5% of those 18 and older completed high school
• Of the 17.7 million people of working age (14-64), 78% were working with the most common occupation being subsistence farming (65%)
• The illiteracy rate among people aged 10 years and above was 72%

With your help, we can and will make a difference!

Uganda Primary School System

There are seven primary levels, P1 through P7. At the end of P7 each student takes an exam that is called the Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) and consists of four subjects. Each subject is worth the points received, depending on what grade you get. The best you can get is 4 and the worst you can get is 36. When the results are released the students will get a Division 1 through 4 or a failure. The aggregates needed for each division are listed on the top of our chart below.

Our School

When our doors first opened in 2013, we were renting a building to house our school. In 2014 we purchased land and began construction of the administrative block a classroom block and a 3rd block for co-ed boarding facilities.

Through generous donations, the school facilities have improved and expanded with running water and paved floors in most classrooms. This past year, we have added two new buildings, one to house a multipurpose room for school gatherings, debates, staff meetings etc. and the other is an expansion of the girls’ dormitories. Future plans will include teachers’ hostel and recreational facilities for the students.

This year we also used monetary donations to install electric poles to connect power from the main Namutumba city to the school. As a result, we were also able to partner with local residents and businesses to provide them with electricity as well. Prior to this, solar power was the primary source of power and was only available on a limited basis to select areas of the school.

The school also promotes agriculture and has a small farm that helps to supplement meals for the children.

Doing Good & Doing Well

In each issue, we will feature 2 short segments: Doing Good & Doing Well. Doing Good will communicate Tara’s community impact. Doing Well will highlight the achievements of our school and our students.

Doing Good

For his work with Tara School Inc, Dr. Richard Kara was one of 15 honorees in Laureate Education’s global 2018 Here for Good awards which recognizes outstanding social impact. Read more

Doing Well

2017 was the first year that Tara students sat the PLE exam. Of the 6 students that took the exam 3 passed with Division 1 honors and 3 with Division 2. Last year (2018), 15 students from Tara took the exam and once again all passed with Division 1 or 2 honors. Well done Tara students and teachers!