Sucre Ethique - Uganda : Poor education blamed on child labour in Busoga

New Visions - mardi 5 octobre 2010

Public servants said poor service delivery in the education sector in the Busoga region is caused by the high rate of child labour in the area. The workers said child labour had contributed to high dropout rates in the region.

They were giving their views on the findings of the National Service Delivery Survey report of 2008 that was presented by Byron Twesigye, a field operations officer in the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, during a one-day workshop at Crested Crane Hotel in Jinja recently.

The objective of the survey was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the trends of service delivery in key public service sectors and to obtain data for the new areas of service delivery.

Abraham Were, the Jinja district education officer, said : “Children between six and 12 years go to schools in the morning and come out at 10:00am to cut sugar cane, fish in lakes and rivers or streams in rural areas, and wash cars to earn a living.”

He added that those between 12 and 18 years are given bicycles and motorcycles to operate as boda bodas. Joseph Musoke, the Kamuli district education officer, expressed dissatisfaction over the poor state of rural schools, adding that some pupils still study under trees and lack latrines.