Bumba Philemon was teaching at a private school when he met a Bridge member of staff who inspired him to join in 2018. Now he’s a Primary 7 teacher at Bridge, Katende and is delighted to have made this decision.

He says that Bridge training equipped him to teach “all the different subjects” and that since starting he’s gained, “knowledge and skills.” Philemon is impressed by the emphasis Bridge places on keeping teachers in class, explaining that now for him, “my classroom is my office—I’m always in class.”

He’s been intrigued by the use of the teacher computer, which he says has really improved his teaching. “It gives me self-contained management of my class,” he says, explaining how it keeps him accountable whilst simultaneously giving him independence. “It has taught me to be committed, to be quick to respond to what I’m doing.”

The real reward has come from seeing the progress his pupils have made in the short space of one year. “They have grown academically,” Philemon says. “They aren’t the way I found them—I can see a great change.”