Former ACS president supports new science lab at a Ugandan high school

The Muko High School in southwest Uganda is constructing a new science building. Once the laboratory is complete, the school’s approximately 420 students will be able to conduct experiments to support and advance their studies in chemistry, biology, physics, and agriculture. Former American Chemical Society president Thomas Lane is a consultant on this project.

Two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—Agape Community Transformation (ACT) USA and ACT Uganda—took over management of the school in January 2018 and have since modernized its facilities. Changes include the installation of solar cells to provide power to the school for the first time and a rainwater collection and purification system.

The NGOs’ current focus is on improving science teaching at the school. Recent countrywide curriculum changes are a key driver. “The Ugandan department of education has pivoted away from rote learning to critical thinking and problem-solving,” explains Richard Dolinski, a retired Dow chemist and ACT US board member.

Muko High School, like many village schools in Uganda, has a very small and basic science classroom. A lack of funds for reagents is an issue, as is the absence of any safety equipment. Until this academic year, the school had taught science only until the first set of national exams, at age 16. The lack of facilities has hurt the students’ grades, explains Mathias Atuheire, a chemistry teacher at the school. With the new science building, the students will complete the final 2 years of high school.

The walls of the science building are already constructed, and the roof is being installed. The NGOs are raising funds to complete the building, provide and install the laboratory equipment, and stock the lab with reagents. “Our hope is to have everything done by the beginning of February, which is when everybody will come back to school for the start of the school year,” says Susan Waechter, US director of ACT Uganda.

“With this new lab, we are going to do lots of practicals. And with practice before our practical exams, we shall not panic, and we shall excel in them,” says Racheal Ntungire, a student who recently completed her first set of national exams at the school. Ntungire, who aspires to be a surgeon, will return to the school to study for her second set of national exams in February. “We hope very soon we shall begin to produce doctors and engineers like our students are dreaming,” says Philip Ntwirenabo, Muko High School’s head teacher and chaplain.

The science laboratory will include a safety shower and eyewash station. “There’s no running water in this building. So they have had to devise a water catch on top of the building so these can be gravity fed,” Lane says. One of his roles in this project is to introduce Atuheire and his colleagues to ACS and other scientific society resources on the use of personal protective equipment, safety procedures, and how to get the most out of the new laboratory equipment. “ACS is a real treasure trove of information, and things that we’ve already started to share include best practices for safety in middle school and high school labs and best practices in teaching chemistry,” Lane says.

For more information and to donate to the project, visit bit.ly/3XcrHHU.