Former MP and Leader of Opposition Winnie Kiiza has launched a back-to-school campaign in Kasese with an aim of rallying learners to resume school.
The campaign, according to Kiiza, will mainly target learners who were involved in businesses during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, teenage mothers, disabled and parents who have refused to take their children to school.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Kiiza said that they have called the campaign, “Kabugho Go Back To School” and it is a partnership between her own Winnie Kiiza Foundation and Kirindiro Communication.
“We have today launched the "Kabugho Go Back to School Campaign" which will run for the next two months in Rwenzori-sub region,” Kiiza said.
According to a report from FAWE-Uganda, at least 1000 young girls were impregnated in Kasese Municipality alone.
Statistics also show that many children in the Kasese region have not yet returned to school due to a number of reasons, including poverty, with some children married off and others involved in businesses.
Kiiza said that through this campaign, they will give out bursaries to needy students, hold educational camps and empower many young people with leadership skills.
“It shall be implemented through media campaigns, community engagement activities and direct interventions like offering scholarships and scholastic materials to selected beneficiaries,” the former Kasese Woman MP said.
She said that they will be seeking to mobilise various stakeholders, including parents to ensure that children return to school because education is a sacrifice that parents should be encouraged to invest in to grant their children a better future.