The escalating cases of school dropouts in Kabarole district have left leaders worried calling for swift interventions to curb the problem.
According to the leaders, most of the children who dropout of school especially get married at a tender age.
According to the figures from the National Population and Housing Census of 2014 indicates that Karangura Sub County in Kabarole district, girls between the ages 10 to 19 who had dropped out of school and given birth were 20.1 percent and 6 to 12 years who are not in school were at 22.2 percent.
Today, the statistics according to the leaders show that the problem has more than tripled than it was ten years ago.
The report done by SOS children’s village Fort Portal, a non-governmental organization that looks after vulnerable children in 2022 also indicates that the completion rate of pupils in primary school is at 37.4 percent with a high number of drop out being girls.
The figures also indicate that a total of 124 Teenage Mothers dropped out of school in the same year.
However, some of the leaders’ attribute this to the long distances that pupils and students have to walk to schools on a daily routine.
This is because some of the sub counties in the district have very few schools where students have to endure long distances to get to the nearest school in their area.
Musumba Godfrey, the Harugongo sub county chairperson says the three government aided schools in his sub county cannot accommodate the biggest population.
To solve this, students from B-six College in London have taken the initiative to construct a new educational facility in the district.
The initiative which involves construction of classrooms in Nyantamboma, Harugongo sub county aims to provide accessible and quality education opportunities for children in the district.
According to Charles Musana, who is among the students, they worked closely with local authorities and community leaders to identify a suitable location for the school and develop a comprehensive construction plan.
Musana says the locals have already welcomed the initiative saying it will solve the long distances which their children have been walking to go to school.