Girl-child education: Explore other options

My column last week on sending the right message for girls to stay in school had some interesting responses. One particular contribution directly sent to me made me think further. 

A reader asked me, what exactly can we tell girls who are already pregnant? What solutions do we have for them? And have I considered that most of these girls did not choose this path because they were defiled, raped, taken advantage of and so on? 

She went on to ask how those who have made wrong decisions can be helped to know they made a mistake and it will cost them but they can still press forward and ultimately succeed. 

Here is the thing. My article was challenging how practical this open door policy is. I believe that supporting girls to get deserved education is more than telling them the door to school remains open. 

Most policy analysts are plagued by the idea that what is seemingly good policy in our context often produces minimal or negative results. The problem is, most policies are casually introduced without exploring options and do not address the major impediments that their implementation might encounter. 

We can now tell that this open door for girls who are expectant or mothers to stay in school will not yield much. A few privileged girls will be able to attend school.

I had the privilege to participate in a campaign by Plan International in West Nile dubbed ‘Girls Get Equal in School,’ with the aim to end teenage pregnancy and child marriage through education last year. The main discussion centred on a study that had looked at the social traditional norms and child marriage. What was clear, was how much the odds are stuck against girls in these communities. 

In this study, the researcher, among others, assessed the effectiveness of what has been and is being done by women and girls, men and boys, parents, clan leaders, community and religious leaders to mitigate socio-cultural practices that promote child early and forced marriages. The study also looked at the functionality and effectiveness of the child protection systems from the community, district and national level. 

The outcome of this study, contradicts many of our assumptions about girls’ empowerment through education, that women have now made so much progress and so on. In fact, many more women are left behind, contrary to the ‘leaving no one behind’ agenda. 

Another reader of last weeks’ column from Busoga sent me a despair note of the situation there too, wondering if there is even a solution. It seems to be a lost cause. But we cannot give up.

That means, we have a real social policy issue at our hands from different parts of the country. And we need a focused policy approach. It also means current policy responses towards child protection have fallen really short and existing mechanisms to punish offenders are not working well either. It further means, efforts by civil society actors are really limited in their outcome. 

We need to appreciate and understand the real drivers of early pregnancy and forced marriage of teenage girls, which may vary by community. Let us not open space for girls and leave these spaces closed. If we want them to stay in school, we have to do more. 

How do we support these girls to pursue education in a safe manner? Answering this question is key to our actions. The point is, whether these girls return to school heavy or with/after babies, their education has been interrupted. 

We should expect more from the Ministry of Education and Sports beyond saying that school doors remain open. If we wanted that to happen, by the time of opening of school there would have been a well thought through policy framework with practical mechanisms for implementation across the country and supported with a budget. 

If we do not follow through, and argue that it is normal for teenage girls to attend class with their babies and stay in school very heavy, we will never be able to demand for safe work space for women by ensuring there is facility for breast feeding mothers or day care centres. 

If our young girls can manage class, take notes with baby in one hand, maybe we all can do it. In that case, our newsrooms, board meetings should all be field with babies, and parliamentary plenary sessions too. 

Ms Maractho (PhD) is the director of Africa Policy Centre and senior lecturer at Uganda Christian University.     [email protected]