8/18/2019 Education reporting: 1st place, Carol Natukunda, New Vision

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 2 NEW VISION, Wednesday, June 10, 2015 EW VISION, Wednesd

Two weeks after the term started,Juliet had not yet reported tosc oo. It was not a out t e recentteachers’ strike. Rather, this SeniorFour student had to weigh heroptons. e as a nne-mont -odbaby.

My son is sick... I came to schooltoday ecause t e eadmaster sentfor me,” she says.

Juliet is wearing sandals when wemeet her for this interview.

I do not even ave s oes to wearto school. I do not want to bothermy guardian because she has sixc dren to take care o, says Ju et,shyly looking away.

The 1 -year-old believes she is aurden to er guardan.She has already done so much

for me... I betrayed her, but she didnot send me away rom ome w enI got pregnant,” Juliet says. As she opens up later, Juliet is an

orphan. She is the fourth born ina am y o sx. e was ony uckythat a relative took care of her.

 All I really pray for right now is tocompete , s e says.

What about her son’s father?Doesn’t he support her?

  I ws I coud answer t a t, s esays palms in her face.

nlike her peers, Juliet’s highsc oo years are not spent worrynga out grades and makng r ends.Being a young mother has forced

her to mature quickly. She knowst e true de n t on o t e word .She is the mother, student anddaughter seven days aweek ours a day. And yet, this is the

same girl who choseto stay n sc ooagainst the odds andstereotypes of beinga pregnant student.

t o ug e rschool, KasambyaParents Schooln u ende,encourages andsupports pregnant

A motherA studentA daughter

24/7

     S    C     H    O    O     L

 

    T   I   M   E

 A   t  y  p

  i c a l 

 d a y  for a t e e n  m o  t  h  e  r  

    A     T

     H     O     M      E

B    E    F     O   R   E    S   C  H  O  O  L 

6:00am

2:00pm

8:00am

Atypicaldayfor Julietstarts

Getsup to help with domesticchores,getsreadyfor schooland ensuresthateverything for her son isin place

Julietis atschoolby8:00am

Hasto revise, hold group discussionswith her friendsand sometimesdo homework before headinghome at2:00pm

She hasto assist with the cooking,do laundry, and wash dishes,bathe and putbabyto sleep.

Sometimesstays awakethe entire nightif babycries

of teenagepregnancies inUganda is high.In many schools,

it is a crime toget pregnant.Students whoconceive areinstantly expelled.What if we keptpregnant studentsin school? In afive-part series,Caro Na u un adigs deep into theissue

11e year n

which a reportshowed that

g r s ou o100 completeprimarye uca on asopposed to56 out of 100boys

In Uganda, enrolment of girls and boylevel has almost reached the 50/50 m2011 report on pregnant girls by the Fo

ome n uca ona ss n cagirls out of 100 complete primary educto 56 out of 100 boys.

a cors con r u ng o roppng ou social, economic, physical and psycholwhich is early pregnancy.

ccor ng o a a rom e gan a Statistics 2011, one in four Ugandan giyears is a mother or pregnant with he

m a ry, recor s rom e gen e r mnn e a o ns ren s u n s o w

girls drop out of school. Pregnancy is aschool dropouts, especially among up

e ve s u e n s .n a FAWE survey conducted in 20 dis

it was established that pregnancy accoo e ropou ra e , o owe y poverengaging in early sex/marriage (11%).

or example, in 2002, a total of 8,116 roppe ou o sc oo ue o pre gnan

were upper primary pupils, while 2, 35students. The year before, 8,201 girls hor e same reason, s oo ng up rom

prevous year. gan, n o cases, eeither P5 or P7 pupils or O’level stude

School 

Drop out rate in Ug

MWALIMU

Since 2010, 19 teenage mothers have stayed in Kasambya Parents Schoolafter they conceived. Of these,

  wo sa nThree sat UCE in 2011 Three sat UCE in 2012 (one of them is a nalist in a PTC) Four sat UCE in 2013 (one of them is pursuing a course in nursing)

ne sa exams n s e s n year one n a unvers y . Three have sat UCE this year Three students are in Senior Three  ne s n en or ne

Statistics

The numberof districtsn w cpregnancyaccountedor o

the drop-out rate

A teenage mother and her child at Kasambya Parents School. Photos by Luke Kagiri

Juliet in school uniform

EEN MUMS defy the odds to stay in schoo

irls to stay in school, Juliet still knewer e was never gong to e easy.When I realised I was pregnant, I

ecided to keep quiet about it.People at home did not knowt at I was pregnant. I woud goto school and do household

chores like before. The goodt ng s t at my tummy wassmall. Some people thought I

was only putting on weight.e ony pro em s t a t

I would feel sleepyduring class time,” sheaug s .However, Ju et coud

not hide the pregnancyforever. By the seventhmont , er guardanwas suspicious.

She took me to theeat centre and t e

pregnancy test cameout positive,” she says.

To say her aunt was furious is anunderstatement.

I had only myself to blame andshe was right to be angry withme, says Ju et.

s s e con des ater, t e manresponsible for her pregnancy

was the son of a prominentsc oo drector n t e area. Healso works as a teacher at aschool she is reluctant to revealor ear o er e.

Initially, my aunt wanted toreport to Police, but most peopleadvsed er aganst t. o wesettled the matter amicably withthe family of the man who mademe pregnant. The man did notdeny respons ty and, n act,told me he would never talk tome again if I aborted the baby,”Ju et narrates.

However, it is illegal tosettle capital offences such as

efilement out of court. The matters oud ave een reported to t ePolice. After a lengthy chat, she finally

reveas s name. I ked m ythe time it happened.”

He would support her until she

elivered in July 2 13.nce t was towards t e end osecond term of my Senior Three,I was able to resume classes aftero days. I resumed sc oo w en

my baby was about two monthsld.”

e support rom t s man assince been an on-and-off affair.trangely, Juliet is as forgiving asways. He s a teac er. I a so do

not think he earns much.”

 

e sc oo as een supportve. tbreak time, Juliet sometimes dasheshome to breastfeed her baby. Being

a school under the Universalecondary ducaton programme

that has a double shift systemmeans Juliet has the opportunityto reak o eary.

I wake up very early to prepareporridge or milk which I leave

e nd or my son. y carer epsme wt a ysttng unt I eaveschool at lunchtime,” she saysand quickly adds, Wh enever mya y s sck, I cannot go to sc oo

after having spent sleeplessnights.”

typca day or Ju et startsabout 6: am. She gets up tohelp with chores at home. Thatncudes was ng some o t esoiled nappies. Meanwhile, shegets ready for school and thenensures that everything for herson s n pace and t at e scomfortable. Juliet is at school by: am.

Before 2: pm when she returns

home, Juliet must also squeezen tme to revse, o d groupdiscussions with her friends andsometimes do homework.

t ome, s e as to assstwith the cooking, doing laundry,washing dishes as well as bathingand puttng er a y to seep.However, the baby will not alwaysfall asleep right away. There aretmes e cre s a t ng t , w cmeans s e may ave to stayawake the entire night.

I also have to feed him in theng t , says J ue t .

Before going to bed, Julietsometmes spares some tme torevse er ooks, ony to wakeup and start the routine all overagain the next day.

Ju et as aso ad to dea wther fair share of mood swings andprying eyes of those who lookat her as that schoolgirl with aa y .

Sometimes, it is hell whenyou have no money to buy whatyour a y needs. et you ave tokeep up with studies,” she saysrevealing her constant fear of life

a ead .Coupled with the parentingstress and lack of basic needs,Ju et admts t at t ere are tmesshe feels like she made the bi ggestmistake of her life. In fact, sheswears, she is never going to getmarred. I do not t nk t s wortt, s e says wt resgnaton I I

can complete school, get a job,look after my siblings and focuson my c d , t a t s enoug .

Did you like him? Did he forceyou into sex?” I ask her.

I actua y ked m, s eadmits. He was my friend, andused to give me pocket money

sometimes. However, I cannot getmarried to him. I have even told

m I do not want to, says Ju et.When she tells her friends to avoid

peer pressure and early sex, she issometmes greeted wt a dea earand hostility. They do not listen tome. They say oyo twamumanyi a.

watyo Ltera y meanng e areused to that one. She is always likethat’).”

It gets to me sometimes, but thats e.

ong t e way, Ju et as earntto deal with the stigma of beinga young mother. Some boys caller ama a y. ut we aug

and joke about it.” She has to findit within herself and believe thatsnce se go t t roug t e mostdifficult stage (pregnancy) withoutdropping out of school, then shecan face anything.

Ju et dreams o ecomng a nurse.When I went to give birth at

Kasambya Health Centre, I sawmany patents w t out nurses toattend to them. I want to make adifference.”

SCHOOL’S STAND

 Against the background of theg sc oo dropout rate attr uted

to pregnancy, Kasambya ParentsSecondary School introduced asupport proect amed at reducngunwanted pregnancies in 2 1 .

Since 2 1 , Juliet is just one of theteenage mot ers w o ave stayed

in the school after they conceived.Most of them have been taken

advantage o. However, we are tryngto give them a chance,” says LawrenceLumbuye, the headteacher.

He says he discussed the issuewt s sta and parents eorelaunching the project.

We felt that when you keep themn sc oo, n a way, t contros rt ,Lumbuye says.

He notes that the girls can easilya prey to more men t ey are not

kept busy at school.The parents were initially hesitant

n wecom ng t e dea.In act, eg na amaganda, a

4 -year-old tomato vendor, hadher sentiments: When you keepa pregnant c d n sc oo, are youtelling the others that it is okay tohave sex? What about the young

children.”

Lumbuye disagrees.en you ook at socety today, tis more challenging for the boys thangirls. Boys, somehow, manage to facet e word. rs are aways takenadvantage of and exploited. Theyneed to be supported. If expulsionworked years ago, t cannot worktoday.”

Lumbuye does not believe inexpulsion of pregnant students.

ven n t e ra word w erethose who get unwanted pregnanciesare executed, girls still get pregnant.

ven ro ers are executed, ut avethe break-ins ever stopped?”

He stresses that the programmes not ntended to promote teenage

pregnancy.It is intended to give a new life

to t e vct ms and to save socetyrom ssues suc as street c dren,

violence against children, earlymarriages, domestic violence anda ortons.

With support from the UgandaRed Cross and United Nationsopuaton und, t e sc oo as a

centre which is well stocked withliterature on sexual health and life

sk s. e centre s managed ytrained peer educators. The teachers’role is supervisory. The boys are alsoequipped with skills to appreciateand respect gr s.

For a girl to conceive, there isa male counterpart. So, the fightaganst unwanted pregnancy cannotbe complete unless the boys areinvolved,” says Lumbuye.

egretta y, some two teenagemothers last year were unableto complete school, even with asupportve system n pace.

Lumbuye says he also needscounselling to reach out to the girls.

If Juliet’s baby is sick, how do

I approach t

extremey patapproac t e tHe also wor

where parentcupr ts.

HOW PROJE

I t eg ns wt that she is preto be convincare amost duschool. This icounselling. Treach out to th

The other spsyc oogca ypregnancy andso that she is n

e teac ershow to handle tare always remun o t em

when makingsexual health g r s .

The parents aby their daughtthem financiasupport.

The school

organises y t e parethe administrstudent is corespons te sshared as theforward.

T s so rith fundCentre

In nIs

ILLUSTRATIONB BRIANSSEKAMATTE

3Recordsrom e

genderministrys ow athree outof 10 girlsrop ou o

school

8/18/2019 Education reporting: 1st place, Carol Natukunda, New Vision

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MWALIMU18 NEW VISION, Wednesday, June 17, 2015 NEW VISION, Wednesday

Should pregnant girls be kept in school?

 Agnes Kobusingye is atcrossroads. She would love totake up a career in veterinarymedicine and animalhusbandry. The problem is

that she obtained a fourth grade in lastyear’s O’level examinations. She thoughtabout repeating Senior Four, but realisedshe could not afford the fees. She wasraised by a single mother, who is cash-strapped.

“I don’t know if I can earn a scholarshipto a vocational institute,” she says.Kobusingye was in Senior Two atKasambya Parents’ School in Mubendedistrict when she conceived. She stayedin school throughout her pregnancy, gavebirth and resumed school when her babywas just weeks old.

“I think motherhood affected me. Iexpected at least a second grade,” saysKobusingye, a mother of a two-year-oldboy.

Her headteacher, Lawrence Lumbuye,strongly believes she is not to blame forher poor performance.

“We cannot deny that they (student-mothers) are affected when they givebirth. However, we also cannot say thosewho perform poorly are all mothers,”Lumbuye argues, adding: “There aremany factors that affect one’s academicperformance. Kobusingye comes from apoor family and was raised by a singlemother.”

Despite sentiments from the community,Lumbuye is a strong advocate of pregnantgirls staying in school.

He says student-mothers likeKobusingye become peer counsellors toother students.

“When someone is in school, it is a wayof controlling birth, rather than letting heroff to get married at an early age. Besides,they are also peer counsellors to fellowstudents. Show me one girl who sees apregnant girl and says: ‘I want to get

pregnant, too.’ The girls’ right to educationis in the Government White Paper,” saysLumbuye.

“Look at Kobusingye now, she mightnot have performed well, but she iscertain about her dream career. Such girlsbecome more determined than ever tomake it in life,” says Lumbuye.

THE BIG DEBATE

The question of whether pregnant girlsshould be allowed to stay in school spansdecades. While proponents say it gives thegirls a second chance in life, opponentsargue that it could be a bad influence to

Almost 300,000 girlsof school-going age getpregnant annually inUganda. But after givingbirth, most of the girlsdo not return to school,

partly due to resistancefrom headteachers to re-admit them. In the secondof a five-part series,CAROL NATUKUNDAexplores the possibilitiesof re-integrating suchgirls back into school.

 Adjumani

 Arua

Nwoya

 Amuru   Gulu

KitgumLamwo

Pader 

 Adjumani

 Arua

Nwoya

Kampala

Kampala

 Amuru   Gulu

KitgumLamwo

Pader 

Beneficiary districts of the MacArthur Foundation

and FAWE sh1.2billion scheme

Project aims at catering

for young women between

12 and 24 years withtheir children.

Capital

Water 

Beneficiarydistricts

KEY

Last year, the MacArthurFoundation, in partnershipwith the Forum for AfricanWomen Educationalists(FAWE), signed a sh1.2bscheme that was set out tosupport pregnant teens, childmothers and their children.

The two-year project aimsat catering for young womenbetween the ages of 12 and24. So far, the project has over5,000 beneciaries in eightdistricts of Acholi and theWest Nile region.

“Girls who are pregnant and

have children should be givenequal opportunity in schools.Kicking them out of school willsimply enhance the pregnancycycle among them and theirchildren,” say Rose Izizinga,the chairperson of FAWE.

Beneciary districts includeGulu, Pader, Amuru, Lamwo,Kitgum, Nwoya in Acholiregion and Adjumani and Aruain West Nile.

Izizinga argues thatseparating child mothers from

their babies is not an optionor solution to what she callsan increasing vice. “That iswhy this project will have anearly learning centre for thechildren of child mothers aswell,” she adds.

In a related development,the Girls Education Movement,a national initiativesupported by the UnitedNations Children’s Fund, hasbeen on since 2001. It hasseveral programmes such asintroducing clubs in school.Through such clubs, girls

reach out to fellow studentsand sensitise them aboutthe importance of stayingin school. Through theclubs, girls also reach out tocommunities to talk to parentsand young people about theimportance of educating girls.

In Kasese district, a localinitiative called Kasese GirlsEducation Initiative, wasalso formed to support GEMactivities. Many teenage girlshave been beneciaries of this

initiative.In developed

the US, there aprogrammes fpregnant in scgiving the studtests, providinfor the teen mtransportatioand their child

 In Washingtoinstance, in thTeen Parent Pvolunteers ofttext pregnantyoung moms t

they are attenWhen studentthey take themassignments.

About 600 sparticipate in which empowewith housing, cparenting skill

This papossible in p

the African

Support programmes

Uganda making strides in keeping teen mothers in sch

 ActivAdvocates ethat a girl’s of gaining memploymennonexistentdenied an opto continue education. Tthe Governmvague.

Dorothy Mprogrammethe Forum foWomen Edu(FAWE), in ainterview, a

Governmenpolicy for thof pregnantand child mocan continueducation.

“There is nposition thato continue after they hexpelled dueThey are usuhence fear gto school anconcern,” M

She arguean adolesceeducation isher fundameeducation athe Constitu

She pointecompletion still low, at 4for boys is a

Catherine feminist andactivist, saymakes a girlhe drop out most cases,an issue.”

other girls. At Le o Atubo College, Ngetta in Lira

district, a girl is expelled as soon as she isdiscovered pregnant.

“I think it is not proper to keep them

in school. What are you telling the otherstudents? That it is okay to get pregnantand stay in school? You might end uphaving a school of mothers,” says theheadteacher, Francis Atubo.

He also says teenagers are too young tobalance both parenting and studies.

“The pregnant girl might be in class,but thinking about her troubles. Maybethe boyfriend does not care. Under suchcircumstances, such girls would notmanage school work,” says Atubo.

The school always hands over thestudents to their parents. “We encouragethem to return after delivery, but I think

they usually feel embarrassed to comeback,” reveals Atubo.

Fr. Henry Kasasa, the headteacherof Uganda Martyrs SS, Namugongoin Wakiso district, says he has never

registered any incidents of teenagepregnancies.

“However, if it happened, God forbid,we would immediately summon theparents and discuss a way forward, in thepresence of their children,” Kasasa says. A sen ior female teacher at the same

school also expresses her sentiments.“Expulsion means you do not take

pregnancy lightly. Therefore, studentswill think twice before engaging in sexand getting pregnant,” the teacher says.She adds: “They need to know thatpregnancy is not about the child, but alsoone’s health.”

She could be right. Information obtainedby the United Nations Population FundUganda notes that teenage pregnancy hasboth direct and indirect consequences toa girl’s health and wellbeing.

Healthwise, a girl between the age of 15and 19 is twice more likely to die duringpregnancy or childbirth compared to awoman in her 20s. If she is under 15, therisks are five times higher.

Young girls are more likely to suffercomplications such as prolonged andobstructed labour because their bodiesare not physiologically mature and readyto handle childbirth.

Teenage mothers also face higher risks ofgetting obstetric fistula, a hole in the birthcanal caused by prolonged, obstructedlabour due to small size of the birth canal,further complicated by limited access totimely and adequate medical care.

“Let us be frank with our girls. When youexpel one, you protect another from all thehealth consequences of dying needlessly,”says Cissy Namaganda, a senior womanand matron at St. Catherine’s VocationalCentre in Wakiso district.

Namaganda also says a pregnantschoolgirl would be too demanding totake care of. “If you tell her to pay morefees to eat the food she is craving, itbecomes a problem. She might come lateto class due to morning sickness, yet wedo not have enough teachers to tutor heroutside class time.”

Even in situations where girls aredeemed mature, they have been expelledfor being bad apples. Last year, 26 girlswere suspended from the UgandaChristian University’s Kabale affiliate

college for conceiving before marriage.They were found to be pregnant duringrandom tests.

“Our policy here is that you came tostudy, not to get pregnant. We look atour students as our daughters and sons,so when someone gets pregnant, it is abad example to the rest, especially to aninstitution that is founded on religion,”said Reuben Twinomujuni, the college’spublic relations officer.

In Sierra Leone, a similar debate israging, following the government’s banon “visibly pregnant” girls attending classor even sitting school equivalency exams.

MINISTRY’S STAND

The education minister, Jessica Alupo, has consistently stated thatpregnant schoolgirls should not beexpelled from school.

The primary education stateminister, Dr. John ChrysostomMuyingo, in an interview with NewVision , said the Government policy

is that every Ugandan is entitled toeducation, without discrimination.“It is under such a policy that

some schools encourage pregnant

girls to stay in school. However, ofcourse, if somebody is not healthy,they can be encouraged to go home,until they recover,” says Muyingo.

Muyingo is, however, quick toadd that keeping pregnant girlsin school can sometimes be adistraction, especially if the schoolsdo not have a support system.

“You know these youngstersmight easily be distracted by seeingtheir fellow student pregnant.Perhaps, that is why some schools

have policies against pregnancy,”he explains.

DETERMINED

Nonetheless, the idea persists thatthe sight of a pregnant teen willmake other girls want to becomepregnant.“Parents think that if they provide

support to such students, otherstudents will carelessly have sex.”Lumbuye says it is especially

disappointing when the comments

come from mothers of the affectedteenagers.

In his estimation, he sayspregnant students tend to be highlymotivated. “They know everythinga usual teenager would be curiousabout and they won’t waste time onboyfriends,” he says.

Perhaps, that is why Kobusingye

describes her pregnancy as aturning point: a realisation thatshe needs to study, get a job andsupport her child.

Those against the policy of allowing pregnant girls in school say they will be a bad inuence on others

The question ofwhetherpregnantgirls should beallowed to stay inschool spans decades.While proponentssay it gives the girls asecond chance in life,opponents argue thatto be bad influence toothergirls

A teenage mother and her child at Kasambya Parents School in Mubende district. Photos by Luke Kagiri

26The number ofgirls suspendedfrom the UgandaChristianUniversity’sKabale afliatecollege in 2013over pregnancy

19A girl betweenthe age of 15and 19 is twicemore likely to dieduring pregnancyor childbirthcompared to awoman in her20s.

GRAPHICBYBRIANSSEKAMATTE

8/18/2019 Education reporting: 1st place, Carol Natukunda, New Vision

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NEW VISION, Wednesd 2   NEW VISION, Wednesday, June 24, 2015 MWALIMU

Who is

AKINGc oo gir s

PREGNANT

In Uganda, one out of every four teenage girls is either pregnant oras had a child. In many schools, such girls are instantly expelled.ut, who is making schoolgirls pregnant? In the third of a four-parteries, arol Natukunda unveils the reality of the matter.

A 15-year-old Primary Seven candidate of Gweri-Dokolo Primary School in Soroti district carrying a baby she delivered on November 1, 2011

He fathers a baby and takes a walk.e pregnant gr does not report to

the Police. The picture of who thisman s rema ns a we -guarded secretwithin the family. According to the 2 11 Ugandaemograp c Heat urvey,

of girls aged 15 to 19 are mothers orpregnan t wt t e r r s t c d . simplies that out of every four teenagegirls, one is pregnant or has had a

child. About 25% of teenage girls between

and get pregnant annua y nUganda, according to studies by the

ganda ureau o tatst cs. t erstudies show that 24% of teenagegirls in sub-Saharan African getpregnant e ore t e age o .

The Population Secretariat indicatest a t o t e . m o n p re gn an c esrecorded in Uganda annually, 25%are teenage pregnancies. This meansthat 3 , teenagers, who are inmost cases school-going children, getpregnant n t e country.

 

The Police say teachers, fellowstudents, bodaboda cyclists,us nessmen and saon operators are

some of the common perpetrators.n average, Kasam ya o ce ost

in Mubende district records at leasttwo cases of defilement every week.In fact, when a Mwaimu team visitedKasambya town in Mubende districtrecenty, o cers ad ust recorded acase of defilement filed by a schoolgr . e o ce, owever, dec ned todivulge details of the suspect for fearof jeopardising investigations.

s s a rura area w ere gr s,especially those from poor familiesare ured nto sex wt sma amountsof money,” said the officer in chargeof Kasambya Police Post, inspectorPatrick Zabikiire. We believe that thestatistics are low because people donot want to report t e crme. nd t ecrime goes on,” he said.

a k re ur t e r reveaed t a tteachers are also perpetrators.

There is a school in this districtu ende) w ere ve cases were

attributed to the teachers,” saida k re, dec nng to dvuge de ta s .

arlier studies have shown thatsome teachers defile their students.The 2 14 national study on‘Assessing Child Protectiona ety and ecurty Issues

for children in Uganda’ound out t at teac ers were

behind 24% of the teenagepregnancies, early marriagesand defilement. A 2 study by the World

ank aso reveaed t atof upper primary school pupilsn ganda ad een de edby their teachers in the lastone year. This means that

, g r s n to ,who are between 1 and

years o d, ad eensexually abused by thevery people who weresupposed to protectthem.

vera , t estudy showedt at oupper prmary

15-19

AGE

24%

24%

300,000

1 3 1 4   15   1 6 1 7 1 8  19   2 0 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 2 8 2 9

Teenage girls aged between 15

and 19 are already mothers or

pregnant with their first child

Teenage girls in sub-Saharan

African get pregnant before

the age of 19

One out of every 4 teenage

girls between 15 and 17 is

pregnant or has already had

a child

School-going teenagers

get pregnant in Uganda

every year

TEENAGE PREGNANCY

SOURCES: Uganda Demographic Health Survey, Uganda Bureau of Statistics

and The Population Secretariat

school girls admitted to having beenin sexual relationships. Out of every1 relationships, four were withteac ers.

The survey, funded by the Worldank, covered sc oos n

districts in all regions of the country.It was carried out by the International

eveopment onsutants on e aof the Ministry of Education.

sm ar study o prmary sc oopupils in Uganda done in 1994 foundthat 11% of girls said they had beenforced to have sex with a teacher.

 

In Kasambya trading centre inu ende dstr ct, press nqu res are

greeted with hostility as most of theaffected parents believe that teenagepregnancy s a am y a ar.

The man has agreed to give usmoney to ook a ter our g r . atis wrong with that?” a parent asked

when we inquired about thecase regarding her pregnant

daughter.However, some o t e gr s

who spoke to  Mwaimugave scanty deta s o

the men responsible fortheir pregnancies. They are

not ng more t an a unc ogrown up men roaming the

streets; men w ose actonslargely go unreported.

He is amechanic,” saysNaomi, a mothero a our-year-

ld girl.e conceved

while in S3at a school inMubende. Shewas 16 years oldt en.

He used tove me g ts and

ometimes pocket

money. It was difficult to say no,”aom recounts.Initially, she kept the identity of the

man responsible for the pregnancysecret. However, as her belly protruded,the pressure to reveal the b east thatdd t s to our daug ter was mountng.Her family asked Naomi to go and getmarred to er us and.

Raised by a single mother, Naomi

was seen as a disappointment. Shewas t e ast orn n a am y o .

Her response amidst the sobs hadbeen: I cannot get married to thatmechanic!”

Everyone had been shocked, buter peas e on dea ears.They insisted that I go and live

w t my us and. However, e adgone into hiding by the time I went to

his mother’s home,” Naomi narrates.Both families and some of the

community elders had to sit anddiscuss a way forward. They decidedt at reportng to t e o ce woudcomplicate matters. The girl had tostay at er n-aws ome , w ere s ewould get all the support she needed,they affirmed.

‘Her husband’ resurfaced at thehouse after tempers had cooled.

aom ecame a ousew e. edelivered in August 2 11. However, itwas not ong e ore aom ed ermarital” home.

I told my mother that I wanted togo ack to sc oo. ome reat ves sadI was just going to waste her moneyand conceve agan. ut ow coud II already learnt a lesson,” she says.

Naomi enrolled at KasambyaParents School. Today, she ispursuing a certificate of nursing at

aka ursng c oo .Naomi’s four-year-old daughter

stays wt er mot er-n-aw . aomis sad that the man responsible for

er pregnancy as not s own anysign of remorse. That mechaniclready has two more children fromifferent mothers. I would never go

back to him.”

ANNET’S CASE

e at er o nnets daug teris a builder. Annet is a student at

4% 

s u y y eWorld Bankrevealed that

o upperprimaryschool pupilsn gan ahad beendeledy er

teachers inthe last oneyear.

Kasam ya arents econdary c ooin Mubende.

He was our neighbour and he usedto uy me everyt ng I wanted, evenwithout me asking. It was always apeasant surprse to receve t em. eday it (sexual intercourse) happened,he called me to his house as usual topick my things.

He took me to his bedroom. Iknew what was likely to follow, butI was too numb to raise an alarm.He is much older than I am and Idd not know w at woud appenif I made an alarm. Besides, hesad e woud use a condom.Unfortunately, he pulled it off inthe process,” recalls Annet.

Her parents opted to sette t ematter amicably with the defiler

wt out reportng to t e aut ort es.Today, he is a free man roaming thevillage. Annet’s mother takes careof her grandchild as her daughtergoes to school.

Just ke t e case s or nnet andNaomi, it appears that the menrespons e or makng sc oogirls pregnant are always wretchedfellows who are seeking ways tou t e r ust.

s s ory was one npartnership with the

African Centre for Mediaxcellence

Deflement 

WHEN THE PERPETRAT

A FELLOW STUDENThen Sharon, 14, was in Senior One at Agape

n Namutumba district, she got into an intimatw ames, a e ow s u en n enor ree.

He promised that if I accepted his advances,c oo ees an marry me a er compe ng scfter I got pregnant, he run away and I have neince,” Sharon says.

aigaga’s story is not any different from Shaf a one-year-old baby, Naigaga’s education joor n a er s e a sa er rs paper

eaving Examinations at Bugiri Primary Schoow as a - ye ar -o s u e n , s u y n g n a n e gvanished after the news broke that she was pr

hile the Kasambya Parents Secondary Schooawrence um uye, ve emen y en es a eesponsible for the cases of pregnancy at the students walimu  spoke to on condition of an

fathers were common among their peers in difowever, they were quick to acknowledge th

mo ona s ran , wou e easer o e

a w eing a teen father.

our agema es ave gr ren s an ey thinking of the repercussions. You do not dropthe girls. And no one would know if the girl choa a - ye ar -o .At least your stomach does not bulge so it re ony worry wou ave s am orce o

r if I am taken to Police,” said another studen

 

eproductive health experts call for the need rs an oys n sex e uca on.Young people and adolescents in particular

ecause ey experence a num er o c a enody changes, sexual feelings and attraction tex. For the boys, they experience frequent ere gr s experence mens rua on, expa ns

ommunity health worker in Kasambya.aga conen s a esp

e suc o y c anteachers should exercise self-restraint.

he Police call for sensitisation on the dangecriminal offence that people should come forThe law must take its course whether it is a

, or a uven e o en er. nce ev ence s aany of them to court, but I think some parenou s , says e o cer n c arge o asa

nspector Patrick Zabikiire.

It is complicated if the relationship is betwee

nce , eenage mo ers ave s aye n asam yaParents Secondary School after they conceived. Of these,n Two sat UCE in 2010n  ree sa nn Three sat UCE in 2012 (one of them is a nalist in a PTC)n Four sat UCE in 2013 (one of them is pursuing a course

n nursng

n One sat UACE exams in 2013 (she is in year-one at  university).n  ree sa s yearn  ree s u ens are n enor reen One is in Senior One

Statistics

A pregnant teenager

GRAPHICB TIMOTH KATURAMU