Museveni urges Busoga leaders to address school dropout rates

Ensuring quality education remains a dream unrealised for Busoga, with loopholes evident in absenteeism, education practices, funding, and capacity gaps—not only for teachers but also in enabling infrastructure.

These challenges have not only affected the quality of education in Busoga but have also put the future of Uganda’s education at stake.

In a message delivered by the Minister for Kampala, Minsa Kabanda, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni called on Busoga leaders to address the growing issue of school-aged children abandoning education to work in sugarcane fields.

The remarks were made during a thanksgiving ceremony honouring the late Yeko Bwana, a revered educationist.

“I wish to congratulate the family of the late Bwana Yeko, who was a great educationist, for organising this thanksgiving event to remember his contribution to the education sector. As you are aware, the NRM government has for many years concentrated on defeating ignorance among our people because, when we came to power in 1986, this was our biggest enemy. However, we have achieved a great deal in this direction.

We have implemented programs such as Universal Primary and Secondary Education and created education funds to facilitate the education of children from needy families,” Minister Kabanda stated.

“Similarly, we have constructed vocational and technical schools in every constituency in the country and built secondary schools at the sub-county level. Here in Luuka, apart from Bukooma and Irongo sub-counties, the remaining 10 sub-counties—including Nawampiti—have government secondary schools. This demonstrates the government’s commitment to fighting ignorance, which was our number one enemy in 1986.

What remains is to ensure that our children actually attend these schools. The problem in Luuka and other districts in Busoga is that many children are preoccupied with cutting sugarcane instead of attending school. This issue must be addressed by the leaders.

Indeed, the challenge now is not a lack of schools but a lack of seriousness among some of our people. As the NRM, we cannot tolerate this vice, and it must be dealt with decisively. We have a sufficient number of schools to accommodate all school-going children in Luuka,” Kabanda emphasised.

President Museveni, through Hon. Minsa Kabanda, also advised locals to adopt the 4-acre model, which he said has yielded positive results.

“On the issue of wealth creation, I want to congratulate some people in Busoga who heeded the NRM’s message of commercial agriculture, particularly the 4-acre model. This has borne fruit, and many people have benefited. I encourage all those who have not yet taken advantage of this plan to do so to uplift themselves,” Kabanda said.

The late Bwana Yeko was the founding headmaster of Summit View Army Primary School in Upper Kololo at the military barracks and KCC Primary School in Kamwokya, located behind the market along Church Road. Both schools were established in the early 1990s. He passed away on September 2, 2017.