Ugandan schools shortlisted for $1m Global Schools Prize 2026

Kampala, Uganda | URN | Three Ugandan schools, St. Kizito High School, Namugongo in Kampala, Suubi Community Schools in Mubende, and Kyaninga Child Development Centre (KCDC) in Fort Portal, have been named in the top 50 shortlist for the Global Schools Prize 2026.

The Prize is anitiative of the Varkey Foundation celebrating the world’s most innovative and impactful schools that are reimagining education for the future.

The schools were selected from almost 3,000 nominations and applications from 113 countries around the world.

St. Kizito High School Namugongo is a finalist in the Sustainability category, supported by World’s Largest Lesson, a global education initiative that brings the Sustainable Development Goals into classrooms around the world. Suubi Community Schools is a finalist in the Inclusive Education category and KCDC is a finalist in the Health and Wellbeing category.

Founded by renowned education pioneer and philanthropist Sunny Varkey, the $1 million Global Schools Prize is the largest prize of its kind.

Today’s top 50 announcement recognises outstanding schools worldwide that demonstrate exceptional drive and ambition for their students, regardless of circumstance, ensuring every learner has the chance to thrive.

The top 50 shortlisted schools are awarded a Global Schools Prize Badge, symbolising world-class impact and achievement in areas ranging from AI transformation to teacher development.

These schools are also welcomed into the Global Schools Network, gaining access to partnerships, professional development, and global collaboration opportunities with other leading institutions.

St. Kizito High School, Namugongo, is a living laboratory where students become climate problem-solvers before graduation.

Rooted in Uganda and serving many learners from low-income households, the school believes young people should have the skills to shape the future, not just study it.  Over the last decade, St. Kizito has become one of East Africa’s strongest models of practical climate education.

Students build miniature hydro-dams, run solar-powered irrigation systems, and produce eco-briquettes from agricultural waste that now fuel school kitchens.

In partnership with the FAO, the school established East Africa’s first AI-monitored organic hydroponics garden, while students also led wetland restoration across Mukono and Semuto.

A standout circular economy project converts over 500 kilograms of daily food waste into livestock feed for 32 local farmers.

Its Clean Cooking Capacity Building Project, supported by IRENA and funded by the UAE Government, has reached over 10,000 students and 500 teachers across Uganda.

The school’s Annual Green Expo attracts over 6,000 participants and 50 schools nationwide. Its hands-on model even influenced Uganda’s new Competence-Based Curriculum.

Today, 85% of students pursue STEM and green careers, and 72.6% of alumni have launched green enterprises — proving education can solve real problems.

  Suubi Community Schools, founded by Daniel Sebugwawo and serving 570 students aged 5-19, is a beacon of inclusive education in a region where fewer than half of children achieve basic literacy and numeracy.

Born from the belief that every child can learn, Suubi delivers a structured catch-up model grounded in foundational skills, formative assessment, individualised learning plans, and adaptive, multi-sensory teaching for learners with reading difficulties, attention challenges, language barriers, and trauma-related gaps from the Ebola and COVID-19 school closures.

Its most innovative practice, assigning SEND learners leadership roles in STEM, arts, and vocational projects, has transformed student confidence and become a replicable model.

Teacher development runs across four quarterly cycles informed by UNICEF and World Bank frameworks. Partnerships with Riverflow International, alongside a new solar power system, are unlocking digital inclusion. Strong Parent-Teacher engagement and community dialogue challenge disability stigma, particularly for girls.

Recognised with a Resolution Project Award and further project honours, Suubi would use Prize funds to expand teacher training, hire staff, scale STEM and vocational programmes, and strengthen after-class catch-up learning, proving meaningful inclusion is possible in resource-constrained settings.

Since 2014, KCDC in Fort Portal, Uganda, has transformed the lives of children with disabilities aged 0–18 through specialist therapy, inclusive education, and community empowerment.

Registered both as a Ugandan NGO and a UK charity, KCDC delivers physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, psychosocial care, nutritional support, and orthopaedic rehabilitation, backed by a robust Child Protection Policy aligned with Uganda’s Children’s Act, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the African Charter.

At its core sits the Kyaninga Inclusive Model School (KIMS), licensed by Kabarole District Local Government under the Education Act 2008.

KIMS educates children with and without disabilities together, using creative, hands-on teaching methods in welcoming, adapted classrooms. Pupils in custom bamboo wheelchairs march publicly behind banners reading

“Our Strength is Visibility – Inclusion Starts Here!”, turning awareness into celebration.  Major achievements include certified teacher-training cohorts equipping educators with inclusive teaching skills, thriving community outreach clinics supporting mothers and caregivers, and high-profile civic events uniting local government, military, and international partners behind the cause. KCDC’s four-pillar model, therapy, education, training, and social enterprise, is changing what’s possible for every child.

Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation, the Global Schools Prize, and GEMS Education, said:    

“Congratulations, St. Kizito High School, Namugongo, Suubi Community Schools, and Kyaninga Child Development Centre. Your approach to teaching and learning powerfully demonstrates how schools play a defining role in equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to shape our rapidly evolving world. By highlighting your achievement, we hope to inspire a global movement to reimagine learning and turn bold ideas into real-world impact. This is more than an award – it’s a platform to spark a global conversation about scaling the best ideas in education and advancing action far beyond the classroom.”

Alison Bellwood, Executive Director, Youth and Education, Project Everyone and World’s Largest Lesson, said: 

“World’s Largest Lesson is honoured to support the Global Schools Prize’s Sustainability category. Congratulations to this year’s finalists – your commitment is not only transforming your communities, but inspiring schools everywhere to be creative, bold, and determined in building a better future for people and planet.”

The top 50 will be narrowed down to 10 category winners, who will each be awarded $50,000. Of those, one extraordinary school will receive the Global Schools Prize and $500,000 to scale its impact.