International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

To What Extent Has Girl Child Education Been Promoted by The Government of Uganda at Secondary School Level?

Kayindu Vincent1, Kazibwe Sophia2, Asiimwe Specioza3
Kampala International University

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of girl child education in Uganda at secondary school level, as a result of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Since Uganda is a signatory to this convention, it put in place many policies so as to end whatever was perceived as discriminatory against women. In the Education sector, policies and programmes have been put in place to promote girl child education. These include Universal Primary Education (UPE), Universal Secondary Education (USE), The National Strategy for Girls’ Education (NSGE), The Promotion of Girls’ Education (PGE) Scheme, The Equity in the Classroom (EIC) programme, the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK), The Classroom Construction Grant (CCG) programme, The Gender desk in the Ministry of Education and Sports headquarters, The Girls’ Education Movement in Africa (GEM), Child Friendly School programme, Focusing Resources for Effective School Health (FRESH), among others. This paper analysed girl chil education by basing on three questions namely: What is the Enrolment level of girls at secondary school level in Uganda?; what is the completion rate of girls at secondary school level in Uganda; and what is the academic performance of girls at secondary school level in Uganda?. The analysis was made on the data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2020, a government body which produces quarterly and annual statistical reports for all the ministries in Uganda. The findings were that the enrolment, retention and performance of girls in Uganda’s secondary schools is good and does not differ significantly from that of the boys. However, in rural areas, some girls are married off at an early age and hence drop out of school and in some instances, their performance is poor. It is therefore suggested that parents, religious leaders, non-government organizations, as well as the government do more to educate the masses on the dangers of early marriages and school drop-out so that all girls who enroll in school can finish.

Key words: Girl child education; Promoted; Government of Uganda

I.INTRODUCTION

Before the 19th century, women globally were facing discrimination and little efforts were made to liberate them. In Africa for example, they were taken as property of men and a man was free to marry as many wives as he wished and in some societies like Ankole of Uganda, a married woman was not supposed to reject the sexual advances from the brothers of her husband or even from her father-in-law. The situation was not different from that in Saudi Arabia during the Jahilliya period (before the advent of