Why these girls are not in school

When third term began, some children who ought to be in school did not make it back.
Some may have dropped out school as recently as last term probably for financial reasons while others dropped out a long time ago.

While government and non-governmental organisations have highlighted the importance of educating girls, for several reasons, many girls of school-going age are left out.
According to Kenneth Kapuru, the child protection officer at Action for Community Development (ACOEV), sometimes it is about culture. Some people still think that a girl’s contribution to the household is more valued than her personal education.

“In many parts of Uganda, poverty is a big concern. Sometimes there is not enough to eat. Considering the school fees and other requirements, some parents opt to keep their daughters at home and send the boys to school instead,” says Kapuru.
If there is not enough food or clean water, girls may not be well enough to attend school. For these and other reasons, girls remain out of school.

For lack of sight
Since June 30 this year, Jane Nakafeero, (13) has been out of school. The Primary Three pupil from Namato Primary School in Nakasongola District is not in school due to a sight problem.
At the beginning of the year, Nakafeero complained about reduced sight but her parents could not afford to take her for a checkup and the accompanying treatment.

With the help of ACODEV, Nakafeero was brought to Mengo Hospital in Kampala where several tests and a surgery were done but this did not improve her situation.
James Kabugo says, “The doctors said that by the time we took her to hospital, it was too late. The problem had worsened. Now she cannot attend a normal school.”

“I can only see things that are very near and while in class, I cannot see clearly on the blackboard,” Nakafeero says shyly.
Having gone through an unsuccessful eye surgery, when she was taken for review, the doctor recommended that she attends a school for children with visual impairment.
The 2014 national demographic health survey (UDHS) shows there are about 500,000 people with low vision and blindness in Uganda.

Forced marriage
Grace Nuwatekateka (16) lives with her grandmother in Kyabigulu village in Nakaseke District. Irene Sanyu, the district probation and social welfare officer for Nakaseke received a phone call about the ongoing marriage of the 16-year-old girl.
Nuwatekateka was to be married off to one of the sub-county councillors of Kinoni sub-county. Sanyu contacted Kiwoko police and travelled to the scene to stop the function.
The case was reported in July 2017 but the girl has been out of school since the start of the year. The councilor, who is already married, promised to give Nuwatekateka’s guardians cows in exchange for their daughter and she had been withdrawn from school ahead of the marriage.

Kapuru says, “Even when the marriage was stopped, we are not sure this girl is safe because she is still in the custody of the same guardians who supported the marriage. ”
The major barriers to girl’s education in Uganda are adolescent pregnancy and early marriage. According to Unicef about 35 per cent of girls drop out of school because of early marriage and 23 per cent because of early pregnancy (Unicef, 2015).

Trafficked Peninah
For eight years, she has moved from one family to another working as a maid. Peninah Nandudu (17) is not in school because her father trafficked her. She was only two years old when her mother died, and this was the end of her dream of ever going to school. She has never entered a formal classroom.

Nandudu is residing at Remnant Generation Ministries in Busega where she is nursing an eight months old son.
“I stayed with my aunt when my mother died but when I was about eight years old, my father asked me to go and live with him and my stepmother. The rest of my siblings who he had with his new wife were going to school but when I showed interest, he said it was too late for me to go,” she recalls.

Since she was not in school, Nandudu was then taken to the coastal town of Mombasa where she worked as a maid when she was about nine years old. Her father was promised Ksh3,000 every month.
“At every end of month, my father would call my boss who sent him the money which I had worked for,” Nandudu says. He said I would use the money in future so he claimed to keep it for me.”
When she returned from Kenya, her father told her he had bought a small goat from her earnings and the rest of the money was used to take care of the family.

She says, “My father sent me to work for a woman in Mengo and while there, I noticed I was pregnant. I had been sleeping with a boy in Kenya but I did not know what was going to happen.”
Her father then told her to get an abortion and return to work. However, her new boss helped her seek refuge at Remnant Generation Ministries, a rehabilitation home for teenage mothers.

Case of teenage pregnancy
Imelda Kyompiire was brought to the Remnant Generation Rehabilitation home in 2016 because she had conceived. The 17-year-old got pregnant at 16 years.
“When my father learnt I was pregnant, he sent me away from home. The father of my child, however, was a student like me and I was afraid of living with his mother so I went to my older sister,” she recalls.
When she was five months pregnant, she put up in a rented room where she lived alone.

Kyompiire says, “I called to inform my mother that I had delivered and pleaded with her to allow me to return home. She said I was only going to breastfeed the child for three months because she could not take care of me and the child.”
For five months, Kyompiire breastfed her child but had to take them to their father’s family when her mother said she was taking her back to school. Although she has not done so to date. Kyompiire believes whatever happened was a mistake but her father cannot forgive her.

She says, “I now live with my mother but my father does not want to look at me. I am trying to be a better person. I regret what happened in the past. I wish parents would grant children who become pregnant another chance. Sometimes I just want to be heard and feel loved.”

Her father will not pay school fees
Monica Naiga wishes to become an early childhood development specialist. She reported for the first term of Senior Five but she has been out of school since February this year.
“My father got another wife and thereafter, we never got his care again,” she explains.
While the latest national household survey indicates that one in every five persons aged 15 and above has completed secondary education, if she is not given help, Naiga is set to become one of the many children left out.

Education status of the girl child in Uganda

In primary education, gender parity is at 91 per cent of the school-age population being enrolled. However, female literacy rates lag behind at 49 per cent compared to 69 per cent of males and gender gaps widen at secondary and tertiary school (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2015).

Data from the Ministry of Education and Sports shows that school dropout in the country is higher at the primary level than at secondary level because of lack of interest, pregnancy, early marriages, hidden costs at school and family responsibilities.
In Uganda, the rate of teenage pregnancy is at 24 per cent but increases up to 34 per cent in the poorest households. In rural areas 24 per cent of girls experience early pregnancy compared with 16 per cent of wealthier households and 21 per cent of urban girls (UNICEF, 2015).

Many cultural scenarios in Uganda stigmatise pre-marital pregnancy among girls both in school and in communities because it is seen as a taboo. A girl who gets pregnant while still at school may be victimised on morality grounds. Early pregnancy has been found to cut short a girl’s education where girls withdraw themselves from school early or after giving birth (report by Ahikire and Madanda 2011).

The practice of early marriage is still prevalent in Uganda and is highly associated with lower female access to secondary education. In 2013, Uganda was ranked 16th among 25 countries with the highest rates of early marriages, with 46 per cent of girls marrying before 18 years, and 12 per cent before they are 15 years (World Vision, 2013).