Budo celebrates landmark victory at global science competition

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King’s College Budo has achieved a remarkable milestone on the global science stage following its outstanding performance at the 2025 International Science Olympiad held in Greece.

The traditional Budo Hill-based school in Wakiso district clinched gold at the Hellenic International Young Naturalists Tournament (IYNT) in a thrilling grand finale featuring only three top teams from across the world.

Uganda’s national team, represented by King’s College Budo at the high-stakes showdown, finished second overall, missing the top spot by a razor-thin margin of just 0.3 points. Under IYNT’s medal policy, the narrow score gap qualified the team for a gold medal placement.

“We were given eighteen problems to research for a whole year, and the research was at PhD level. The students were required to come up with research problems, state the hypothesis, carry out experimental setups and procedures,” said Asumpta Kasamba, a Mathematics and Physics teacher who led the Budo team.

Team Uganda return home after the Global Science Olympiad in Greece. (Courtesy)

The team returned to the country on April 17, 2025, and was joyfully welcomed by the school administration at Entebbe International Airport.

Four schools were selected to represent Uganda at this year’s IYNT: King’s College Budo, Mt. St Mary’s College Namagunga, Gayaza High School, and Mengo Senior School. Budo won at the national level before the teams merged to form a single national delegation.

“Since it was an investigative package, we had to come up with statistical packages and make conclusive deductions from their steps. It was a very creative and involving event for the learners. The students put together a very good setup, really did their research, and made strong experimental deductions,” Kasamba said.

She explained that the "science fight" was structured in three segments, each comprising six problems, and involving the roles of reviewer, reporter, and opponent.

“The opponent gives you a chance to choose a question, report on it, and defend your findings scientifically based on your deductions and methods. Our learners stood up to the resources those people have and came up with the deductions,” she added.

“We want to thank the school administration, which has been supportive in ensuring that the students apply science beyond the classroom and gain exposure on the international scene,” she said.

Kasamba noted that the skills prioritised under the new competence-based curriculum were instrumental in the team’s success, commending the Ministry of Education for such critical reforms.

Uganda’s victorious team consisted of Senior Two, Three, and Four students, who competed against peers from more than 12 countries, including Italy, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, in intense rounds of problem-solving tasks, innovation showcases, and science-based challenges.

The Ugandan delegation stood out, earning top honours for their innovative work and the real-life application of science.

“To be honest, it was spectacular from start to finish. I am so grateful to God and whoever enabled us to reach this far—our headmaster, Canon John Fredrick Kazibwe, as well as the administration that helped him,” said Aman Ssewanyana, a member of the Budo team.

Godfrey Kasamba, the school’s deputy headteacher in charge of administration, described the victory as a milestone in Budo’s pursuit of academic excellence on a global scale.

“We have global winners, and that fits directly into our vision: to produce globally enlightened men and women, grounded in Christian values,” he said.

He added, “It’s only our third time participating in this Olympiad, and bringing home a gold medal is deeply encouraging.”

Ssemakula Sserujongi, another Budo student, said: “For me, this competition helped me to think critically, and I feel it has automatically improved the science field in our country. As Uganda, the more we compete in such competitions, the more we think critically, the more we think like the people we think are better than us.”

According to Kevin Desire Maasa, the team leader at the Science Olympiad Foundation Uganda (SOFUG), it was a double celebration for Uganda, as the country also won first place in the experimental race—a competition that tests teamwork, practical investigation, and scientific reasoning.

Maasa said Uganda’s success is the result of years of groundwork and a growing ecosystem of scientific mentorship.

“We are in the middle of a national shift in how we teach and assess science, and this is a perfect demonstration of what our students are capable of when they are challenged to think, explore, and innovate,” he said.

He added, “This journey began as a dream—to give Ugandan students a global platform to showcase their brilliance. Now we are not just participating—we are winning. This is what investing in young minds can do.”