Kampala International School Uganda (KISU) on May 28 held their sixth graduation ceremony in honour of students who have completed the internationally acclaimed International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme.
A total of fifteen (15) students, received their completion certificates from KISU ahead of the full release of the examination results by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) in July this year.
The students are headed to a variety of universities around the world to study a variety of courses, including engineering, pre-medicine, Business Management, Management Information Systems, Music Production, Liberal Arts, International Relations, Computer Engineering.
The graduation ceremony, the sixth since KISU was accredited by IBO in 2008, was presided over by Samuel Paice, HM Consul, British High Commission in Uganda, assisted by Mr. Neil Wrightson, the School Director.
The IB Diploma Programme is an alternative to pre- university programmes like the local A-levels and KISU is one of only three schools in Uganda to offer the programme; that is recognized by all leading universities worldwide.
To date, a total of 90 students have completed the course from KISU.
KISU is also accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).
Educating today’s children for tomorrow’s world
In his keynote address to the students, Mr Paice, urged the students, to utilize the skills gained at the school to become better global citizens; saying that the IB Diploma was just the beginning of a long future ahead of them.
“The IB Diploma equips you with all the necessary skills to fit in the outside world,” he said.
On his part, Mr. Neil Wrightson encouraged the students to aim for the best in life and not to be afraid of making mistakes.
“You are going on the biggest journey of your life. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Because the truth is that no matter how well you plan things, things will go wrong, people will let you down but some other people will move heaven and earth for you; do not forget to say thank you,” he advised.
On behalf of the Class of 2015, Ingrid Saito, praised both the IB Diploma and KISU for having given them a strong foundation on which they would place the building blocks of a great future ahead.
“We are nothing but the fruits of your labour,” she told the parents and quickly reminded her fellow students not to be afraid of failure.
“Remember, sunshine everyday causes a desert; whenever you are faced with drizzles remember always to seize the day,” she said.
Edoardo Bosi, one of the graduands and KISU’s first student to complete an IB Music Course leads other music students, in performing Destination- one of his original compositions
Several students received awards and honours with Ingrid Saito bagging the highest number of awards. She was the only winner of the High Honours award, an award for students scoring an average of 5.8 or 35 point and above. She also bagged the Effort Award in Mathematics as well as 3 Attainment Awards in Mathematics, English and Biology.
Described as the Lighthouse in the class by her classmates, Saito is heading to the Waseda University in Tokyo to study International Relations.
Edoardo Bosi, the first student to complete the IB Diploma Music Course –– performed Die Forever, one of his original compositions while a quartet of KISU students also performed Destination- another of his compositions.
Edoardo has been admitted to study Music Production at dBs Music Berlin, in Germany.
Increased Local Access to International Education
Mr. Wrightson said that with increased local access to international education driven by investment in world class facilities such as KISU, it was increasingly becoming affordable for Ugandan parents seeking to give their children international education at all levels.
“It is no longer relevant to send children to very expensive high schools in Europe and the Americas when there are opportunities to have the same quality of education locally,” he said, adding:
“Offering the IB Diploma locally, over and above the obvious cost benefits, also allows students to have the best of both school-based and home-based learning, until such a time they are mature and independent enough to join university.”
Ingrid Saito (C) is joined by other graduands
Mr. Wrightson said that contrary to popular belief that international education is meant for children of expatriates, international education has never been more relevant for all students.
“One of the advantages of this kind of education is that we offer standardised education; it is the same curriculum that is available in the Europe, US etc. This means that once our students have left KISU, they stand the same chances of joining almost any university in the world, at the same level as students from the US and the UK,” he said.
“This means that Ugandan parents don’t have to spend huge amounts of money in tuition, air fares, accommodation and upkeep, because they could be sending them to do the same things that we teach here.”
To enroll for the diploma, a student needs to have scored at least 5 credits in five major subjects at O-level or their equivalent at the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).
“I invite parents to come and learn more about the benefits of international education,” he said.
He also said that with world class facilities, Uganda stood to benefit from attracting students within the region to come and study locally and this would have immense national benefits.
KISU- A World-Class Centre of Excellence
KISU is a non-selective, co-educational school for 2-18 year olds, offering an enhanced English National Curriculum for 2-14 year olds, followed by 2-year IGCSE (Cambridge) courses for 14-16 year olds, and finally the pre–university IB Diploma Programme for 16-18 year olds.
The school has over 600 students from more than 60 nationalities. Staff are drawn mainly from the UK, Canada, Australia, USA, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Uganda. This ensures a wide exposure to cultures and languages.
The school which is part of the Ruparelia Group, migrated to their purpose built 14-acre campus on the 3rd September, 2008.
The campus has been equipped with state of the art facilities such as: 4 science laboratories, 3 IT laboratories, interactive ‘smart’ boards in all departments, indoor and outdoor theatres, competition swimming pool and 5 acres of sports fields.