A charity that has built 22 secondary schools in Uganda and Zambia and educated over 8,000 youngsters so far, has taken the top prize at the Charity Awards 2013.

Promoting Equality in African Schools (Peas) was established in 2008 after its founder and CEO John Rendel saw how large was the unmet need for secondary education in Uganda and wider sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda just 30 per cent of villages have a secondary school and fewer than one in four children receive a secondary school education.

The Overall Award was presented by minister for civil society Nick Hurd and CAF chief executive John Low to the charity's chair David Townsend and monitoring and evaluation coordinator Linda Jonsson, at last night's star-studded Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

Accepting the award, Peas' chair David Townsend thanked the charity's staff, funders and volunteers, and said: "Fifty per cent of our pupils are girls; that's very important to us. Each year a girl is educated adds 15 per cent to her lifetime income and reduces her chance of Aids by 20 per cent. 

"By 2017 we will have 100,000 children in schools. Each school is designed to be economically sustainable without input from London; we do not want the local economy reliant upon money from the UK. So thank you to our teams in Uganda, Zambia, London and Rwanda where we hope to open 30 schools in the next five years."

Townsend added, "on a personal note": "I retired from full-time work in 2006 and got involved with Peas right from the start; I consider this to be the best work of my life and the most rewarding." 

Peas worked with a small Ugandan staff team to conceive an innovative financial model called SmartAid, in which the capital investment for new schools was raised in the UK but running costs for the schools are met locally, by government grants, income from small businesses based at the schools, and very low fees.

The charity identifies the areas of greatest need by pinpointing villages where at least 250 pupils leave primary school each year but cannot join a secondary school. It holds consultations with the local community, education stakeholders and prospective pupils to ensure it does not crowd out other education investment or providers.

Thanks to this careful planning, Peas schools fill up as soon as they open.

Peas has so far built 21 secondary schools in Uganda and one in neighbouring Zambia, producing 542 graduates so far. The charity not only constructs the schools, using locally-sourced materials, but continues support by training the school leaders in financial management, a factor which has allowed the schools currently operating to become financially independent and sustainable within two years.

Termly audits and education inspections ensure transparency and the charity has also tackled remuneration and management issues typical of state-run schools which mean that teacher absenteeism can be as high as 27 per cent. Absenteeism at Peas schools is 13 per cent and its students bucked the national trend in 2011/12, improving their grades when the national average grades declined.

Each school will be developed over about six years, at a cost of around £400,000 each, to reach a maximum capacity of 1,000 students.

The charity’s achievements have not gone unnoticed by the Ugandan government; it has requested the charity work with it to create a network of exemplar secondary schools that can be emulated by other education providers.

Currently 8,000 students are enrolled in Peas schools, paying nominal fees at 71 per cent of the cost of state-run schools. The Peas network employs over 400 teachers and non-teaching staff, but their salaries are paid by Peas schools.

Peas’ long-term plan is to provide 100 of the best low-cost, high-quality schools educating 100,000 students.