By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
Concerns are growing among the members of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) regarding the high rate of school dropouts in the country.
John Kikonyogo, the party spokesperson says the Parliament should interest in addressing serious issues pressing the country than engaging in petty flights in the house.
“Government is not be aware of the number of parents fail to pay for their fees. Parliament should be interested in these increasing cases of school dropouts. They are giving the ministry of education a lot of money every year but the output is there for everybody to see,” he said
The concerns come at a time when candidates in Senior Four are sitting for their UCE exams and candidates in other classes, Primary Seven and Senior Six are also preparing to sit for their national examinations.
In Uganda the average primary school dropout rate is 45% but this rate is much higher amongst girls. And over 1 million people drop out of school before completing primary seven. For instance, in 2016, over 1.8 entered primary one according to the education statistical abstract, 2016. However, over 1 million of these pupils dropped out of school before completing primary as only over 830,000 pupils sat for PLE. They included some pupils who did not sit for PLE in 2021 due to COVID-19.
Last month, players with in the education sector revealed at the 10th Annual National Conference on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights that the cost of education in Uganda is compelling many parents to seek loans to cover school fees for their children.
According to the stakeholders, children of the parents who cannot afford to raise the required costs end up dropping out of school thus the high rates for school dropouts.
Angella Kasule Nabowowe, the executive director of the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights says standardization of the education sector will enable to mitigate the financial burden of education.
She suggests that the government regulates schools to ban unnecessary requirements that impose additional financial burdens on parents.
Other causes of school dropouts in Uganda are lack of food, lack of sanitary towels for girls, domestic violence in families and teenage pregnancy among others
