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Uplands – project background

Uplands School

Uplands School.

The school is based in a tea plantation area in Haloya Division of the Central Province area.

The building of the school was funded by The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The school has recently acquired a new building which was funded by the government who received a loan from SIDA for the purpose of extending the buildings of a number of selected schools in Sri Lanka. The school now has 11 classrooms which will greatly improve the teaching environment.

In 2005, the school included grades 1–10. This was extended to grade 11 in the new academic year in January 2007. In 2005, there were 252 pupils enrolled in the school – 133 boys and 119 girls. Due to the dedication of the staff, the numbers attending have increased over the time that the present headteacher has been in post.

View from Uplands School

View from Uplands School.

The majority of mothers work as tea pickers, with some working in the nearby tea factories. Approximately half of the fathers work as labourers in Kandy with other half working in the tea industry, mainly in the factories. The communities are poor with salaries in the tea plantations being amongst the lowest in the country and living conditions often very cramped. A small number of the boys at the school are involved in work in the tea factories at night, although the numbers are decreasing with the educational awareness work carried out through the school.

The school and community has no area for sports activities. The whole area is built on a hill surrounded by tea plantations. The children play on the tracks or on a very small patch of land between the school buildings. The school however, does take part in sports activities and all pupils participate in the annual sports event at Sarasavigama, 2 km down the steep hill.

A comparatively flat piece of land, comprising of 1 acre, was identified for use as a school playground, is adjacent to the school and therefore easily accessible to all pupils.

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