Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) is a UK-based charity that builds and develops low fee secondary schools in Uganda, and soon also in Zambia.
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In 1997, Uganda launched free universal primary education (UPE) to all children. This has boosted primary enrollment immensely to 93.2% in 2008/9[1] , yet demand for secondary education is largely unmet: only about 23% of girls and 27% of boys are enrolled at secondary level[2] , largely due to a lack of schools.
John Rendel, who has won an Unltd Award for Social Entrepreneurship was named in the Courvoisier Future 500[3] as one of five young leaders in the public and social sectors[4] , founded Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) in 2004 after visiting Uganda and discovering the huge need for secondary education.
Now PEAS has teams both in the UK and in Uganda, working to both raise money (in the UK) and implement the PEAS SmartAid approach (in Uganda). As a result there are currently eight schools in the PEAS network in Uganda, with several new schools under construction, including one in Zambia. They will open at the beginning of the next academic year, in February 2012, each with an initial enrolment of about 200 students. The PEAS schools are:
PEAS is a young UK charity with no religious or political agenda. It is built on the following principles that aim to eliminate the problems experienced by many development organisations around the world.
PEAS emphasises certain values that form the basis of their approach to education and schools:
PEAS Uganda implements this PEAS vision, supporting each individual school. A Director of Finance financially audits every school, every term, to ensure efficiency and accountability. The Director of Educational Excellence inspects every school, every year, in order to maintain and improve teaching standards to help students learn more. Teachers benefit from continuous professional development, and salaries paid in full, on time, every month, which is a practice still rare in Uganda.
PEAS recently held its first annual teachers conference in Kampala, Uganda, bringing together teachers from across the PEAS network to share experiences and lesson[6] . PEAS also promotes opportunities for the students to practice the skills they have learned, such as through a public speaking competition[7] .
All PEAS schools operate a SmartAid model, a sustainable way of giving aid that prioritises local ownership and long-term sustainability.
The SmartAid model means that PEAS fundraises the capital for the building and start-up costs of a school. As a result, a PEAS school is able to open debt-free, allowing it to charge fees that are low because they merely need to cover the running costs of the school. The income from the low fees is supplemented by income-generating projects (which also teach the students important business and vocational skills).
PEAS schools typically become financially self-sustaining within a year of opening, allowing them to run independently of UK fundraising, which is the key to sustainable development. This means that funds raised by the PEAS team in the UK can be spent on creating even more new schools allowing PEAS to provide thousands and thousands of new secondary school places for young people.
Bridges to Africa is a national sponsored walk organised by PEAS, involving students from schools across London and the UK that has been running since 2006. Students join together to complete 10 km bridge walks in London, Manchester and Birmingham. The money raised by students is used to help build new affordable secondary schools in Uganda and Zambia through the charity. In the past, the event has been attended by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Channel 4 new presenter Jon Snow[8] . The walk takes place yearly, in May.
Over 5000 students have walked the bridges of the UK in the past years, helping to raise £100,000.