East African Gazette
Kiboga Uganda
Makale Bright Future school primary dropout in Kiboga warries members of the Rotary Club of Nakasero Central as many children across all levels of education resort for casual jobs to earn a living to support their families.
Many children are now involved in brick laying, construction, charcoal burning, Cyclists (boda-boda) and others shunning way schools- Josephine Kayangire a Rotarian and a mental health expert.
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Kayangire said 30 percent of Ugandans suffering from mental health due to drugs has led some people to contract HIV/ Aids and mental illness.
Kayangire urged parents to monitor the movement of their children even if they are at home, she added that if we want to gain out of them, we must continuously supervise them regularly.
School dropout rates in Uganda remain high with 45% of primary school children and 30% of secondary school children dropping out before completing their education.
Poverty is one of the major factors of school dropout rates as many families cannot afford to send their children to school. Children are often needed helping their family, other are involved Child labour to support their families, that led them into early marriage and Gender discrimination among others
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Speaking with East African Gazette while presiding over the function at Makale Bright Future Primary school in Lwamata Sub County in Kiboga district recently on 11 November 2023. Jovet Tweheyo , the president of the Rotary Club of Nakasero Central said they are committed to restore hope in the lives of the communities in supporting the boy child to complete their education who end up in casual jobs.
“Lwamata is classified as hard to reach in the district with a total of 3,655 students of which 1,722 are girls and 1933 boys in the 9 Secondary Government Aided Schools. The rate of dropout is high among the boys” said Tweheyo
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As a way of giving hope to overcome the high rate of school drop out of boys from school, 10 scholarships worth sh 750,000 termly will be awarded to the top performing students of primary five and six in third term respectively until they complete their primary education.
While addressing delegates recently, Janet Museveni, the Minister of Education and Sports, said the ministry is concerned about the low rate of primary school completion which the ministry puts at 32%.
“I appeal to you all to note that completion of the learner’s education cycle should be considered a priority and a collective effort of the schools, parents and guardians, as well as the community in general,” she said at the release of the 2022 PLE on January 27.
Statistic
About one million children drop out before Primary leaving Examination
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But 2022 PLE candidature included pupils who were unable to write their exams in 2021 when schools were closed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The pupils who were supposed to sit for PLE in 2021 were over 1.8m in Primary One in 2015, this means over 3.2m children were in Primary One in 2015 and 2016, but over 830,000 of them wrote PLE.
The over 740,000 candidates who wrote PLE in 2020 were part of the roughly two million children Primary One pupils in 2014. There were over 1.8m in Primary One in 2013, and nearly 700,000 of them did PLE in 2019. In 2012, over 1.8m children entered primary school, but just over 670,000 of them did PLE in 2018 calling the vice of fighting school dropout.
In addition, 1.8m children started primary in 2011, however, only over 640,000 sat for PLE in 2017. In 2010, close to two million children started primary, but just over 630,000 wrote PLE in 2016.
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An analysis of the education abstracts and PLE candidate figures published by Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) over the past seven years shows that 1.2m children out of the nearly two million who start primary each year drop out before reaching primary seven. Think of it as 800 schools, each with 1500 students, closing down each year.
Over the past seven years, the education abstracts show, there were close to two million children in primary one each year, but this number fell drastically as children moved to the upper classes. In some cases, the enrolment falls dramatically at Primary Two.
For instance, while there were around 1.9m children in Primary One in 2015, just 1.3m pupils were in Primary Two in 2016. This means around 600,000 pupils left school after or before completing Primary One in 2015.
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The analysis shows that the enrolment remains stable at around 1.3m children between Primary Two and Four before it collapses to a million or below at Primary Five.
For instance, in 2016, over 1.8m entered primary one, according to the 2016 education statistical abstract. However, over one million of these pupils dropped out before completing primary as only over 830,000 of them wrote Primary Leaving Exams (PLE) in 2022
Tweheyo further said as members of Rotary International they have seven roles to serve in society and one of them is focusing on health, education and improving the water source to see that people drink safe water to reduce the waterborne diseases in society.
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The members also gave out scholastic items worth shs 5million and specifically given to pupils from P 1 to P 6. They included books, pencils, sets, balls and pens.
“They also provided hospital beds and mattresses to ensure patients coming to Lwamata health are treated” Tweheyo said.
Edward Luzige aged about 60 said the Rotarians cleaned up their spring well known as “Mbiride Mbiraba” I have eaten knowingly. This means that by drinking this water one should entertain the outcome.
Luzige said over 600,000 people in Lwamata depends on Mbiride Mbiraba wells and because of the poor management, people have contracted various diseases because nobody ever warned them.
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He was happy to be told that Rotarian had agreed to improve the safety of the spring well to stop floods which affect it each time they get heavy rains.
Christine Luutu, the Assistant Governor – Zone 12 District 9213 and member of Kololo Rotary club said they chose to support the boy children after realizing that the girls had more programs to support them than the boys.
Luutu said 95 percent of the youth in prisons are due to taking drugs that is why the boy child should be supported in the communities. She said by supporting the boys we shall gain more out of the youths who are lost out and end up in prisons.
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Noah Luwalaga , the in-charge of Lwamata health centre, said he was happy with Rotarians who came to motivate the community regarding improving their life, complaining about the effect of drugs on the rise among the young people.
Luwalaga said the HIV/AIDS scourge which claims the lives of economically active age groups (15-25years is high among youth who drop out of school to rush for casual jobs.
He said by giving hope to the boy child through scholarships it will motivate them to remain in school and complete their studies.
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Moses Nyobya the head teacher of the Bright Future school primary said he was indeed very happy to select his school to work with Rotarian to give hope to the boys. Nyonya said it true the district is affected because the youth have ended up affected with drugs.
He appealed to well-wishers to support him with construction infrastructures.
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