As part of its Tourism Revenue Sharing benefits to the communities around the parks, Uganda Wildlife Authority has donated over 40 million Uganda shillings to schools in the region.
With such high population density in the area, the pressure and demand for land for farming is greatly eased through education, as future generations have alternatives other than farming from which to earn a living.
By supporting education and the building of schools in the area, Uganda Wildlife Authority is investing in the future of the forest, the only home of the mountain gorilla.
A case in point is the Kirima Community Secondary School. This community school was started in 2005 but unfortunately the Year Four examination candidates could not sit for their national exams in the school as the school did not qualify as an examination centre. (The Uganda secondary school system is like the British school system where students sit for national O and A level exams).
To qualify as an examination centre the school was required to put up an examination hall. The community approached UWA fund the building of the hall and UWA contributed to the construction of the examination hall. The school was accorded status as an examination centre and from 2007 the school’s candidates no longer had to struggle to sit their exams in far flung examination centers.