Parents should stop plaiting children's hair- Government

Government through the ministry of education has cautioned parents who have made it a habit of plaiting their school going children’s hair to desist from the happen for the benefit of everyone.

The minister for primary education Rosemary Seninde stated that the act of plaiting hair of children in school going age puts them at risk of pedophiles, let alone disrupt their learning process.

According to Seninde, children of school going age having plaited hair will have hard time concentrating in class, since they will need to tend to their hair or deal with itching dandruff.

“This child’s hair will be itching; she will not concentrate in class. Some of the creams used for these children are not fit for their scalps, this exposes them to untold side effects,” she said.

Seninde also said that some parents go an extra mile of giving children accessories like necklaces, earrings and lipstick, which makes them appealing to predatory men.

“Some of the parents give the children earrings, and lipstick. This is not good, because if your child already has plaited hair, then you accessorise them, they look older. The same parent will give the child a boda boda rider to deliver them to school. Satan is not yet asleep, why are you tempting him?” she said.

Hardly a day goes by and no local radio station will report a defilement case or a sexual offence against girls of school going age.

Children, mostly girls are at a very high risk as they go through suspicious neighbourhoods at early morning hours or late evenings while going or returning from school.

According to a previous report from Uganda Police, Rape and defilement have been on the increase in the last five years.

Police records show that 120,707 girls below the age of 18 years have been defiled in Uganda in the last five years.

The report further shows that in 2010 alone, 14,973 cases of defilement were recorded and since then, the rate has gone up. In the 2016 domestic violence crime report, at least 17,567 girls were defiled.

In the last five years, more than 8,000 girls and women were raped. In total, cases against the girl child increased from 5,852 in 2010 to 9,217 in 2016