Ideal Girls High School in Uganda

Ideal Girls High School was founded in 2008 as the first Consciousness-Based school for Girls in Africa.

Our school gives non-sectarian, quality education for girls. We are in Mbale District in eastern Uganda.

Success in Exams

IGHS has had outstanding success in the Ugandan national exams. That means we have a successful school in Ugandan terms.

Since 2009, 92% of our students have passed the “O” level exam at Grade 10 — even though the School accepts all students of any academic level! In Uganda, it is unusual for “average” students to pass this “O” level exam. This successful development of all students shows the power and quality of Consciousness-Based Education used at the School.

Popular performers
 The school is known in Mbale for creativity and discipline performance. The choir is regularly invited to perform at local and regional public events.

How many students?

In 2016, IGHS’s enrollment was 105 students.  were boarding students. Some of the non-boarding students walk up to two hours to get to and from school. The students are very focused and appreciative of their educational opportunities at IGHS.

In 2013, the first floor of the new classroom building was finished. Two additional floors can be added as enrollment expands. With your help that will be soon.

We are aiming for 600 students.

All religions supported

IGHS is non-sectarian school. We fully support the students practising their own religion. We accompany students and provide transportation for their worship: the Muslim students to the mosque on Friday evening, the Seventh-Day Adventist students to their church on Saturday, and the Catholic and Anglican students to their churches on Sunday.

The Power of Girls’ Education

Today, quality girls’ education is widely recognized as one of the most powerful leverage points for breaking the generations-old, self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and solving other challenging socio-economic problems. Most of our students come from poor backgrounds, families surviving on subsistence agriculture in both Uganda and Kenya. Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. There are many documented benefits of providing educational opportunity to girls:

  • Educated mothers ar
  • e more than twice as likely to send their own children to school.
  • A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5.
  • Girls with 7 years of education will marry an average of 4 years later and have 2.2 fewer children, reducing economic and ecological pressure.
  • The #1 cause of death for girls 15-19 is childbirth.
  • A girl who completes basic education is 3 times less likely to contract HIV.
  • A girl with an extra year of education typically earns 20% more as an adult.
    [Statistics compiled by Girl Rising and Day of the Girl.]

Supporting the Ideal Girls School

  • When you donate to a school such as the IGHS in Uganda that has implemented the proven, holistic, Consciousness-Based approach to education, you deepen, strengthen, and expand the effectiveness of your gift:
    • Girls develop their consciousness and creativity through practicing the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, along with a balanced program of academic disciplines, arts, and recreation. The TM technique has been shown in numerous studies to improve academic performance.
    • Relief from stress and the emotional effects of past difficult circumstances, one of the many proven benefits of the TM technique, allows the girls to live more happily and harmoniously—and derive maximum benefit from their educational opportunities.
    • Provision of high quality, locally grown organic food whenever possible complements the health benefits of meditation and the basic medical care available to the students.
    • Group meditation practice and group practice of the advanced TM-Sidhi program radiate profound peace and harmony into the environment, contributing to an improved quality of life in the surrounding society–and to world peace.
    • Students graduate with inner strength and a beautiful foundation for life, well prepared to contribute maximum to their society.