INITIAL SITUATION

The Alebtong region in northern Uganda is characterized by a weak infrastructure. Some of the inhabitants of the 547 villages live very isolated lives. Most families earn their own livelihoods and depend on the economic returns from animal husbandry and the sale of their home-grown products; child labor is part of everyday life here.

Due to past conflicts – northern Uganda suffered from a 20-year civil war until 2008 – and the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, life expectancy is low. High levels of financial poverty and large numbers of orphans characterize the region. Poor or no water and sanitation facilities and inadequate educational infrastructure and facilities exacerbate the precarious situation.

LACK OF SPACE AND POOR SANITATION AND HYGIENE STANDARDS

The supported schools are among the most financially disadvantaged, as the education authority only supports them with basic expenses such as teachers’ salaries. Class sizes reach numbers of up to 180 students.

The hygienic standards of the schools are in a more than inadequate condition, which leads to female students in particular staying away from classes due to their menstruation. There are currently between 108 and 213 students per latrine. These latrines are dilapidated and cannot be emptied, which is why they can no longer be used. Facilities for washing hands are not available.

School meals cannot be offered to the students, as none of the schools has an oven. Access to fresh water is available at most schools, but the existing wells are dilapidated, so the water available to students and teachers is brownish. All of this means that students are less able to concentrate, or even stay away from class altogether, as they are not provided with food or drink during a long day.

NO CLASSES: SCHOOLS CLOSE FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS

The Covid 19 pandemic has resulted in elementary school in Uganda being closed for almost 2 years, further exacerbating the precarious education situation. Remote learning is out of the question because most families do not have access to learning and educational materials, let alone adequate equipment for online instruction. They often rely on their children’s labor, which is why many children did not even return to schools for classes after the pandemic. One statistical model predicts an education deficit of 2.8 years for Ugandan students. Girls are often hit even harder: many more boys than girls are enrolled in school. The illiteracy rate for girls aged 15 and older is about 26%, while that for boys is “only” 16%. (Worldbank, as of 2021) Particularly in the context of the pandemic-related school closures, the rate of teenage pregnancies in Uganda increased very sharply – too often in the context of sexualized violence. In 2020 and 2021, a total of over 733,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the country, including nearly 200,000 in the first six months of 2021 (UNFPA 2021, 2022).

MENTAL HEALTH: MANY STUDENTS ARE AFFECTED BY MENTAL ILLNESSES

The conflicts described above and the accompanying post-traumatic experiences as well as challenges such as hunger, HIV and Covid-19 have a strong impact on the mental health of students in Uganda. Mental illness is therefore prevalent in school regions, but usually goes undiagnosed or unaddressed due to a lack of information and knowledge. Although the topic of mental health is supposed to be addressed in the classroom since 2022 according to Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports, the necessary funding, qualified personnel and prioritization are lacking. As a result, mental illness often goes undetected and students do not receive adequate care, which leads to students staying away from class or even dropping out of school.