Best girl student wants medicine

Hope Uwera, 13, of Bright Academy in Nyagatare who emerged the best female performer in the 2012 Primary Leaving Examinations wants to become a doctor. She also emerged fourth best pupil countrywide. Uwera attributed her performance to hard work, group work on top of support from parents and teachers as well as self motivation. “I started reading seriously in P3. I used to read various papers and revised even what I had studied in P2,” the jolly pupil, dressed in her former school uniform, said. “I followed my teachers’ advice and spent time with my classmates discussing our notes or solving some tough questions.” Surprisingly Uwera says she was an average performer but that her target was to finally perform well in national exams and she injected some extra effort. “I remember when I was in P1, I used to be the tenth, and similarly in P2, I was among the top 10 best performers until I was in P3,” she says. She remembers in the first term of P5 she was the sixth and the tenth in second term. “When I knew that someone performs better than I did, I approached them and asked them to study with me. I used to learn much from them while sharing what I knew, I also used to help those who were not good and finally all candidates passed the national exams,” Uwera says. Despite all her efforts and hard work, Uwera says she had never dreamt that she would be the best female performer and fourth best country wide. “All I was sure of is that I would pass highly,” Uwera says. Uwera’s success impressed her so much and she hopes to work harder and perform better in secondary school, to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. She recognises the support from her parents since nursery. “My parents have been my guides and without their mental and physical support, I would not be what I am now. They advised me on what to do and kept encouraging me. They told me to do the homework and revise everyday before sleeping,” she said, before crediting teachers for her success as well. Andrew Kabera, her father says his daughter demonstrated competence even when she was still young. “She liked to study and we helped her to get whatever she needed as parents. She used to occupy the best positions in class and we had hope she could make it and perform well,” said Kabera. “One day she asked us to let her join boarding section to study harder and we let her go,” said her mother. Emmanuel Rumanzi, the deputy director of the Bright Academy said Uwera, like other pupils, performed well at school thanks to the strategies the school uses to teach the students. “We take care of our pupils by providing quality education and even guide them, while encouraging them to work as a team. We also have good and motivated teachers,” says Rumanzi. About the school . . . Bright Academy School started in 1997 as a coaching school founded by a group of ten parents. The pupils used to study under the tree back then. In 2000, the first batch of six pupils sat for PLE and all passed. The school has emerged in top twenty in the country for past four years. The New Times