Bright Life’s Lamp Library Project levelling ground for off-grid schools
A Lamp Library Project to lend pupils without access to electricity lamps to study while at home is set in expand to the Northern district of Kitgum.
Bright Life a company under Finca International that is behind the project is set to take the project in four off-grid schools with the upcoming launch at Atimkikoma Primary School and Pajimo Agweng Primary School salted for April 6th, 2023.
While speaking to the press about the project, Laurynas Vaiciulis the Chief Executive Officer revealed that the project involves donating solar systems and portable lanterns to schools that are off the national grid, providing light for classrooms, libraries and dormitories and facilitating night learning, homework and exam preparation for students and staff.
Vaiciulis adds, “We shall be donating solar systems to the schools that are off grid, these lanterns can be borrowed at a cost of 500 shillings per week to aid in maintenance of the systems by the children to take home to help them read and study in the evenings before they return them to give an opportunity to other students to do the same.”
The initiative has been in existence since 2019 and has grown to over 10 schools across Uganda but targets to reach 10,000 schools though with the aim of making them affordable.
Bruce Kaliisa who heads operations at Bright Life called on government to come in and lend support to this cause saying, their target to reach 10,000 schools requires financial support. He said, “ It costs us 25 million shillings to carry out installations in each school, a cost that he too high.” He revealed that since the start of the project, academic results have been seen with a lot of improvement such as at Pageya Primary School in Gulu which recently registered its first Division One pupil for the first time in the school’s history.
As per the Lamp Library Project, each of the schools selected through a raffle draw on 3rd May, will receive a donation of 6 solar systems to provide light for classrooms, the libraries and dormitories and 50-100 portable lanterns from Bright Life.
