Japan builds sh270m science lab for refugees

REFUGEES    GRANT 

KIKUUBE - The Japanese government has built a sh270m modern science laboratory for refugees and locals at Kyangwali Secondary School in Kikuube district to boost science education.

The school that is located in Kyangwali refugee settlement, which is home to over 30,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has received an up to standard science laboratory from the Embassy of Japan.

The funding from Japan helped to build a three-roomed science laboratory which is equipped with a solar PV system to serve a total of 614 students, among them 305 refugee students and 309 Ugandans.

The facility which will be commissioned Wednesday by the ambassador of Japan, Kazuaki Kameda is funded under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) which is administered by the Embassy of Japan.

Kyangwali Secondary School serves the refugees in Kyangwali and the people in the neighborhood and the laboratory will ensure that the students gain quality practical lessons, according to a statement from the ministry of foreign affairs.

Kyangwali Secondary school was taken over by the government in 2016 but it had no science laboratory. Although biology, chemistry, and physics are compulsory science subjects, the school did not have a science laboratory block and the facilities were not up to standard for experimental lessons.

Kyangwali refugee settlement was established on land that was given to the government by Bunyoro Kingdom to resettle refugees from Rwanda in the 1950s. The refugee settlement borders communities of more than 10,000 locals who share resources amongst themselves. 

According to the foreign affairs ministry, the new facility is meant to contribute towards assisting Africa in boosting economic growth through uplifting the lives of the people at the grassroots, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and consolidating peace and good governance.

Under Japan's GGP programme, the country has so far funded a total of 249 projects worth sh19m (about sh70b) since its conception in Uganda in 1992.