NABBANJA RUKIA
A report by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights ( ISER) on the assessment of government's progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goal on inclusive and equitable quality education has revealed that poor education conditions of children living in urban and far away areas still persist.
The average distance of 20km that has to be covered by the children to attain education in primary one is too long for children of 6 years, the report notes adding that this forces them to start school at the age of 9 years and by the time they reach primary three, the society starts seeing them as mature and marriage material.
"In Amuru districts pupils have to rely on community schools which do not have a curriculum. Those that have are challenged by interpretation of the curriculum. They also do not have qualified teachers and at the end of primary seven, the children are ungraded," Angela Nabwowe Kasule, the programme’s director at ISER said.
Recently the state minister for Finance, David Bahati revealed that out of 1600 parishes in the country, 387 of them do not have secondary schools.
Findings show that there is insufficient data on several crucial areas on which progress can be determined.
“I don't know what explanation the ministry has for not having information that is required," said Saliima Namusobya the executive director ISER.
“We are crawling we need to run”.
Particularly, the report notes that there is scant information about children with disability.
The government cannot provide specifics of how many pupils are hand capped and this raises concerns on how the government can account for the money allocated to this group of people. A lot of pupils with disabilities are being left out in that regard which is contrary to Sustainable Development Goal 4.
Kasule said the bad conditions of teachers forces them to leave the schools in rural areas in search of a better life.
According to the report, Nakapiripit district had only two science teachers of which one was reportedly a drunkard and not in the best state to be teaching the children of nation.
Kasule commended the government for trying to build schools and creating facilities for children with disability such as ramps and special latrines for them. .
