Oyam District Records 64% Dropout Rate Among Schoolgirls, Stakeholders urged to take Action

The rate of school dropped  out among girls stands at 64% in Oyam District.
This was revealed by Victoria Harriet Anyango a programs manager at Foundation for Inclusive Community Help FICH during a Joint community dialogue held at Lela Market in Loro sub County with an aim of discussing issues within education sector and the reason for conducting this dialogue is to define the role of each stakeholder and then to hold them accountable to play their roles and the theme for this activity is “Where is my child headed to?”.

According to Anyango,this quarterly survey was conducted in March and it  shows that  64% of girls especially from primary five, six and seven casses dropped out of school compared to boys at only  36% meaning parents still prioritize education of boys than girls and most parents hope to marry these girls off.

she said when you look at the reasons parents gave it look like they are not telling the truth because they give you reasons like these children were Sick, they are  taking care of their older siblings, some are doing domestic soic but when you go to these households you find that these girls are pregnants,some are married off meaning parents know what to do   meaning parents know the right thing to do and they know that they will be held accountable if they failed to do.

Adding that in her own perspective she understands that parents prioritize the education of boys compared to girls because most parents still believe that boys don’t get spoiled and that is why they hope to marry girls off.

In her conclusion Anyango said this build up program from their community education forum that they always hold in eleven villages will help them to plan to have a Policy brief with the district stakeholders and  members of Parliament so that they can see the wayforward for all these challenges they are talking about in the communities of Loro and Iceme Sub counties.

Daniel Okello the Lc5 councilor of  Oyam town council who represented the Lc5 chairperson of Oyam district during that event  appreciated FICH for the good work they are doing pledging that as a district they will do all it takes to support community and these partners in fighting this vise.

Benson Ongom the district Inspector of schools Oyam district encouraged stakeholders to be resourceful if education standards is to improve urging law makers to come out with by-laws to improve education in a bid to reduce school dropped out among learners.

Conny Atoo the female Lc5 councilor for Oyam town council  said there is need to support inspection team with good means of transport so that they can be able to visit even the hard to reach schools calling upon government government to put their focus on policy implementation.

Hanna Agang the female Lc5 councilor who represents persons living with disability encouraged different development partners to recruit sign language interpreters to provide fair treatment to persons with  hearing impairments

Night Akello a resident of Lela village in Loro sub County suggested that lack of girls changing rooms is also  contributing to high rate of school dropped out among girls.
She appealed to government  and other stakeholders to consider the establishment of girls changing rooms so that it can help them especially when they are experiencing their menstruation periods.

In Oyam district over 9000 pupils dropouts of school annually according to a report obtained from the education department.


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