The Buddhist Schools began with four (4) children as a Sunday Dhamma School in November 2008 at the Uganda Buddhist Centre. The main focus for this establishment was to reform the character of children through the inculcation and practice of morality, mental concentration and wisdom.
Bhante Buddharakkhita began teaching children with Dhamma stories that relate to real life experiences. It was then that Ugandan and visiting volunteers expounded upon this teaching. The teachers and children were keen to share their own experiences and also eager to learn from each other. The Abbot of UBC offered some scholarships to children mainly from under-resourced families.
The number of children started growing from time to time making a total of 15 children by 2009. The first batch of children was offered an annual scholarship fund for their school fees. Donations of blackboards were generously offered by Sri Lankan Buddhist followers living in Uganda. Other people offered exercise books to the children for the whole term of three months.
Realizing the benefits of bringing their children to attend the Peace School Dhamma classes, more parents started sending their children to the Centre. Between 2010 and 2015, the total number of children in the Dhamma School was fifty (50).
The number of children became overwhelming yet UBC didn’t have enough facilities to cater for such a big number. We used to teach children under tree shades, which was challenging especially in times of rainy seasons, not until in 2014 when we received a tent from where we could conduct classes for children.
The School maintained its founding spirit serving over 30 children from Bulega and the surrounding communities. Teachers were volunteers, local and foreigners who come with their unique backgrounds, global perspectives and experiences to provide a structured learning atmosphere for young children focusing on both individual and group learning.