Rural Classroom Addition (Uganda)

Partner | Building Tomorrow
Building Tomorrow is an international social-profit organization encouraging philanthropy among young people by raising awareness and funds to build and support educational infrastructure projects for vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. By opening doors to new, accessible neighborhood classrooms, Building Tomorrow can help reduce illiteracy among children, reduce the dropout rate and ensure a brighter future for thousands of children.

In Uganda, 57 percent of children finish primary school and 18 percent have the chance to attend secondary school. And over 1 million children are not enrolled in primary school and, of those, 70 percent are never expected to.

The challenge is to develop innovative design solutions for classrooms in remote/rural communities in Uganda, with little or no existing access to educational facilities.

Partner | Building Tomorrow

Translations available at the bottom of the page.

Challenge

To develop innovative design solutions for classrooms in remote/rural communities in Uganda, with little or no existing access to educational facilities.

Partner

Building Tomorrow

Partner Description

Building Tomorrow is an international social-profit organization encouraging philanthropy among young people by raising awareness and funds to build and support educational infrastructure projects for vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. Building Tomorrow partners with educational institutions in the US for fundraising and collaborating on building projects. By opening doors to new, accessible neighborhood classrooms, Building Tomorrow can help reduce illiteracy among children, reduce the dropout rate and ensure a brighter future for thousands of children.

Partner Website

www.buildingtomorrow.org

Location

Building Tomorrow currently works in the Wakiso and Kiboga districts; both are rural areas located throughout central Uganda. In the future, they hope to expand to other areas within Uganda and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Below are the GPS coordinates for select Building Tomorrow Academies to give an idea of the areas where we currently work:

Building Tomorrow Academy of Buwasa: +0° 31' 24.54", +32° 14' 44.52"
Building Tomorrow Academy of Bembe: +0° 30' 10.50", +32° 17' 34.26"
Building Tomorrow Academy of Gita: +0° 30' 45.48", +32° 30' 7.80"
Building Tomorrow Academy of Kiyamba: +0° 44' 55.32", +31° 58' 30.42"

Need

• UNICEF and UNAIDS estimate that 41 million children in this region alone are without access to primary education, 15 million of whom have been orphaned by AIDS.
• In Uganda, 57 percent of children finish primary school and 18 percent have the chance to attend secondary school.
• Over 1 million children are not enrolled in primary school and, of those, 70 percent are never expected to.

Countries such as Uganda have initiated Universal Primary Education (UPE) programs, guaranteeing a free education to every Ugandan child, however the government simply does not have the means to provide all children with even a basic classroom.

The lack of funds and infrastructure calls for the design of one classroom at a time - an incremental design model, with the potential of being a fully functional school. The focus of the design solution would be the use of local materials and skills. In keeping with Building Tomorrow’s ideals and goals, the design solution should also involve the use of local labor inclusive of the community. The construction methods should empower community members through a skills building exercise and training.

Program

The program requires the design of a single classroom, which will focus on creating inspiring learning environments for the students. The design will also focus on providing healthy and safe academic spaces for both students and teachers.

Design Considerations

Designers are asked to take the information below into consideration as they develop their classroom design.

The classroom

• The design solution is for an innovative new classroom/multi-use space for a maximum of 50 students. Such a space, ideally, could be easily transformed for use as an office, library, performance space, etc.
• The design challenge is to produce a singular classroom that can be used for incremental development of a larger school campus. A master plan for future development should be illustrated through this approach.
• While addressing monetary issues, this prototype should be easily replicable and adaptable to varying landscapes/environments throughout Uganda.
• Designers may also consider classroom furniture design for effective space usage. The design should be cost-effective and easy to manufacture locally.

Materials and Construction

• The design requires innovative use of locally available materials. This innovation is to be within Building Tomorrow's cost-sharing model from local materials, built by the local community who donate their time and (mostly unskilled) labor.
• The construction technique for the design solution will be simple, which can be easily learnt by under-skilled members of the community.
• A design solution that empowers the community through community participation.

Teaching Aids and Storage

• Consider how various architectural elements such as doors, windows, walls, ceilings, and corridors can be used as learning aids to enhance the learning experience for students and teachers.
• Storage is a critical need. Classroom teaching aids (science equipment, books, etc.) are often shared among classrooms. Explore how teaching aids can be stored and shared between classrooms.
• Consider display options and mounting solutions. How can teaching aids as well as student work be mounted and displayed within the classroom?

Safety Considerations

• Designers are asked to consider entry and exit strategies for students and teachers.
• Consider security in terms of visitors’ access and safeguarding students.
• Fire safety should be considered
• Design of your classroom must be structurally sound within the context of the existing building

Collaborate with students (children from the community)

Building Tomorrow has provided answers online to a number of questions posed to students and teachers/administrators in Uganda in addition to images drawn by students and photos of various construction techniques and schools in Uganda.

Budget

$3,000.00 per classroom (materials only, as labor is volunteered by parents and community members)

Design requirements

• Classrooms must accommodate up to 40 students and 1 teacher.
• Illustrate through a phasing diagram/master plan and site plan, how your classroom design can be used in an incremental development to develop into a fully functional school.
• Your submission materials should include a list of building materials used in your design (either in the project description or illustrated in the drawings).
• Briefly explain or illustrate how the design will be constructed using limited labor skills. And how the execution of your design engages the local community.
• Lighting (natural) levels at desk height must be between 150 and 300 lux
• Acoustic levels should approximate 35 db in an empty classroom to allow teachers to be easily heard by students.
• Fresh air supplied at 2 room air changes per hour using natural ventilation.
• Construction of a classroom should take no longer than 6 weeks to execute (including planning). This being the standard construction time in this case study.
• Construction costs per classroom cannot exceed the budget defined above.
• All dimensioning should follow the metric system

Optional drawings (as listed in the design guidelines) will include master plan and site plan illustrating the incremental design process.

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Please note: Additional information may be added to assist participants during the course of the challenge. Please check this website periodically for updates.

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