Teachers for Rural Futures

There are persistently low numbers of qualified women teachers in Uganda, currently around 30% in secondary schools, with even lower numbers in rural areas. Graduate Women International (GWI) provides scholarships and mentoring support to young women from rural areas of Uganda for them to become qualified teachers and ambassadors for girls’ education. Through a competitive process, students with an ambition to become a secondary school teacher in a rural area and improve girls’ education are selected to join the programme. GWI student teachers study at Makerere University, and participate in community engagement to build support for girls’ education in rural communities. The GWI student teachers all come from Buyende District in Eastern Uganda, a rural area where the majority of girls do not complete secondary school. They were amongst the few to complete school. All had dreams of going to university, but without the means, their studies were due to end there. GWI’s Teachers for Rural Futures project has set them on the path to fulfilling their dream, as well as the dreams of thousands of other children who will benefit from an education once they qualify as teachers. With your support, more young women in rural Uganda can become qualified secondary school teachers, fulfilling their dreams and those of thousands of children in their future classes.