Covid-19: UN warns on school dropouts, child pregnancies

What you need to know:

The drop-out rate in the country is at 42.8 per cent, with more than half of the number of female pupils that join primary not completing due to early marriage, pregnancy and lack of sanitary towels.
UNICEF recently released a report indicating that some 9.7 million children worldwide could be forced out of school forever by the end of this year, as a result of increasing poverty and budget cuts incurred by Covid-19.

The coronavirus outbreak has made it difficult for businesses which were already struggling, with entrepreneurs now rethinking their strategies to reinvest in other ventures.

School dropout cases and teenage pregnancies are expected to increase due to the continued closure of learning institutions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations (UN) has warned.
Ms Rosa Malango, the UN country coordinator, yesterday said children, especially girls, are idle in villages, leaving them at the mercy of their abusers.

“We urge government to provide enough learning materials, especially at the lower level, because they are the most vulnerable,” she said.
Ms Malango added that a UN social economic impact assessment shows that the most affected children are in rural areas and slums.

“We have to cater for victims so that we change the behaviour to prevent violence. We have to come up with immediate solutions, and learning materials are one of them,” she said.

“We have to sensitise families on how to protect girl-child education because it’s likely to collapse yet the government and other stakeholders have done a lot to promote it especially in rural areas through several projects,” Ms Malango added.

The concerns come after teachers under Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) raised a red flag over lack of engagement of key stakeholders in the education sector during the coronavirus lockdown period which could result in some children never returning to class.

“By the time we reopen, many learners will not be able to return to class. If learners are not practically engaged, some of them will forget about learning, begin doing other things and move on with their lives,” Mr. Filbert Baguma, the Unatu chairperson, told Daily Monitor recently.
She was addressing journalists in Kampala as the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) celebrated 10 years of existence.

EOC is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament to effectuate Article 32(3) and Article 32 (4) of the Constitution of Uganda. EOC is mandated to eliminate discrimination and inequalities against any individual or group of persons on the ground of sex, age, race, colour, ethnic origin and tribe, among others.

Ms Sylvia Muwebwa Ntambi, the EOC chairperson, however, said underfunding and understaffing means they cannot achieve all their plans.

“We are understaffed due to limited funds; we are just at 43 per cent out of 100 per cent. This means we cannot reach most parts of the country,” she said.
Ms Muwebwa added that EOC has only one central office in Kampala yet they need regional offices so that the vulnerable can reach them easily.

“Women and girls are the most vulnerable but they do not have access to us to air out their issues, especially those from remote areas,” she said.
State minister for Youth and Children Affairs Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi said EOC has created an avenue for the vulnerable people as well as ensuring equitable access of government services.

Statistics

The 2019 UNESCO report shows that Uganda has the highest school drop-out rate for females in East Africa.
The drop-out rate in the country is at 42.8 per cent, with more than half of the number of female pupils that join primary not completing due to early marriage, pregnancy and lack of sanitary towels.

UNICEF recently released a report indicating that some 9.7 million children worldwide could be forced out of school forever by the end of this year, as a result of increasing poverty and budget cuts incurred by Covid-19.

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