Women rights activists call for equitable, quality education for girl child

By Prossy Kisakye

Women rights activists have called for equitable and quality education for the girl child in the country.

The call comes as the number of female school dropouts and cases of teenage pregnancy continue to rise and these were worsened during the two years of covid-19 induced lockdown.

According to statistics, the 2012-2016 enrollment trends for primary schools demonstrate parity but there are significant regional disparities estimated at 56% males and 44.5% females.

The executive director for Women in Democracy, Patricia Munabi, says many children of school-going age have never attended primary school, females accounting for 23% visa vies 12% of their male counterparts.

She notes that government should find an everlasting solution to the declining quality of education, especially in UPE schools, coupled with the high drop-out rate, especially for girls.

She says the completion rate is 30% noting that for every 10 girls admitted to primary schools, only 3 complete and there’s a low completion rate at O-level of 34.8% with boys at 36.2% and girls at 33.5%.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna