Getting every child back to school needs collaboration

Grace Namata, 11, a pupil of Masuliita Junior School read a heart-rending story during the launch of the “Back to school” campaign in Masuliita town.

The young girl talked of the shocks children have had to endure during the two-year closure of school as a result of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown since March 2020.

“I am so happy to be back in school. So many bad things happened when the schools were closed.
I have a 14-year-old friend who was made by her parents to spend the whole day digging without food. This went on for all time when schools were closed and she would tell me while crying. However, I am happy that schools finally opened and parents accepted to take her back to school,” Namata says.

Thousands of teenage girls have become pregnant and given birth during the two years when schools were under lock and key. The situation has disturbed authorities and parents in the country. Yet when the schools reopen, more challenges of having every learner in class, is another headache.

The government said nearly 650,000 teen pregnancies were recorded between 2020 and 2021.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in 2020, the numbers of teenage pregnancies were the highest in: Wakiso (10,439), Kampala (8,460), Kasese (7,319), Kamuli (6,535), Oyam (6,449) and Mayuge (6,205).

Other children are faced with emotional challenges after their parents lost sources of income creating difficult conditions for sending children back to school.

“These children were supposed to be in school  but were  affected by the lockdowns,” Betty Naluyima, the Woman MP Wakiso District and publicity secretary Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children (UPFC) says.

Safe schools
Save the Children country director, Dragana Strinic, says when the schools re-opened, the biggest task is now to ensure that all children return to class.

“In order to ensure that children are back to education safely, we must support them to be able to follow standard operating procedures. The schools require sanitisers and masks while children must keep safe distance from each other,” Strinic observes.

Strinic says priority on in-person learning should diligently adhere to safety measures such as vaccination, universal masking, and physical distancing. This need arises from the struggles associated with demands of virtual schooling during the pandemic lockdowns.

From a humanitarian perspective, schools are crucial to the well-being of children and provide not only academic instruction but also support services such as nutrition, physical activity, medical care, and emotional and social development for children, among other services.

“During the last two years, many children have lost learning and we now must make sure that we help them catch up. Teachers need to do the assessments. Unfortunately we know some children are missing out. There are girls who got pregnant and others who have babies now. It is the role of education officers and head teachers to ensure that these girls are provided with an opportunity to return to school following the guidance provided by the government,” she says.

Head teachers also need to ensure that there is an inclusive environment in the schools where the children get strong mechanisms to ensure that they identify the needs for these children and refer them to appropriate government services.

There are numerous changes in the school environment. Learners are required to wear masks to enter the school and wash hands when they arrive in the morning. They sit a maximum of one or two pupils to observe social distance.
Namata says: “Even with all this, we love being in school.” 

“Is there a way you can advise the government never to close the schools again? Is it possible to find ways to control Covid-19 without stopping our education? The best thing you can do for all children in this country is to help us to get educated. I have an uncle who did not go to school but he has never found a job for so many years. I believe that a future without education is no future at all,” says the younster, pointing to the need to continue with education.

Community involvement

Loss of learning, academic and socio-emotional, could have a catastrophic impact on advances made in education over the past two decades. 

Global efforts are being called for to ensure all children return to school, and that teachers are better prepared and supported to address learning losses among their students.

Parents and communities are being recognised as key, necessary stakeholders in the education system.
Janat Nakabugo, the inspector of schools in Wakiso District, says the community needs to be involved.

The Back-to-School programme was first launched in Uganda in February 2007 at Nampumpum Primary School, Kotido District to accelerate school enrolment, retention and completion. But the current campaign is operational in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Kibuube and Wakiso districts.

Nakabugo explains that parent engagement is the key to making sure that children go to school and remain there asking them how the school day went and ensure they are happy.

“It is not only about paying school fees but talking to children and collaborating with school contributes to making schools safe learning spaces,” Nakabugo says.

Through coping mechanisms, some learners accessed content using study materials and catch-up classes.

“We have a lot of land which is cultivable with other projects such as brick laying, quarrying but when it is time for school, some parents don’t send the children to school immediately. As the inspectorate, we are receiving reports from school heads that learners are yet to fully return to classes because some parents are waiting to sell their harvest. I encourage parents to talk to the school administrators and arrange payment plans. We need the rapport with the school community,” she adds.

But she points out that children with special needs are at a big disadvantage.
“As others are walking and being seen, children with special needs are being hidden in homes. I appeal to political leaders to locate where these children are to lead them out of homes to schools,” Nakabugo explains.

School uniforms

Apart from the incentives suggested, every time children have returned to school, uniforms have been weighing on the minds of parents and children. Wearing a uniform is a badge of pride, creates an identity for a school and is an important part of being a school student.

George Mutekanga, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of private schools and institutions at the Ministry of Education and Sports is concerned that some children in school lack identity.

“One way of identifying a school-going child is being in a school uniform. That is the role of parents. Uniforms give students a sense of belonging and create an identity for the school in the community,” Mutekanga says.
He adds that the ability to put on a school uniform is enough testimony that going to school is not a crime.

“If we can have even young mothers in a school uniform, we will be able to keep learners in school,” he says, adding that breastfeeding mothers are allowed six months and return to school.

He advocates for authorities to use forceful means, if needed, such as arresting parents that have not sent back children to school.

“We cannot allow our children to have half-baked education. That is why we must put parents to task. Children can take on vocational studies, if they cannot continue with formal education. We need young people who are skilled,” Mutekanga explains.

The Wakiso model
Naluyima spearheads the  Naffe Tusome campaign, an initiative aimed at aiding the vulnerable children in Wakiso District achieve their educational goals.

Stressing the mantra of “children first,” Naluyima and her team, most of whom are politicians from various areas of Wakiso District, dress in the school uniforms to give child mothers confidence that they can return to school too.

“There are several children that were impregnated during the lockdown. They need hope and when we meet them in communities, we want to boost their confidence that they can wear the uniform with pride and return to school because we are also mothers and fathers,” Naluyima says.

Wakiso is the most densely-populated district in Uganda with a high dependency rate of 48.4 per cent and an estimated population growth rate of 3.67 per cent. With a population of 3.1 million, 46 per cent of the people in Wakiso District, below 18 years. 45 per cent are between 20-59 years.
Naluyima says teenage pregnancies could have doubled since 2020.

“We cannot look on when babies are raising babies. The parents are incapacitated by unemployment and poverty. Our key assignment is to give a helping hand. We must ensure that no one is left behind.

Genesis... 2007
 The Save the Children Back-to-School programme operates in 55 countries around the world. The campaign was first launched in Uganda in February 2007 at Nampumpum Primary School, Kotido District to accelerate school enrolment, retention and completion.

Action
During a December 1, 2021 parliamentary seating, Vice President Jessica Alupo said that since March 2020, statistics show increased cases of defilement and teenage pregnancies.

The study found that a total of 354,736 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020, while 295,219 teenage pregnancies were registered between January to early September 2021. An average of more than 32,000 teenage pregnancies recorded per month during the period.

Alupo said the figures are not only high but also worrying.