Shakur Omiat, a 7-year-old child who had dropped out of school in Pallisa District, is one of the children Bravo Shoes Community Support Organization (BSC) followed up with and enrolled back in school.
Though he went viral for collecting plastic bottles, by the time the BSC team arrived at Shakur Omiat home, the young man had been on a short stint with his grandmother Christine Asio to scare away birds in the nearby garden.
It is eminent that many children from this area drop out before they complete their Primary Leaving Exam cycle (PLE), as children are employed to scare away birds in the gardens.
The study carried out within the communities with children in government-aided schools shows that parents sacrifice their children to safely guard their gardens from the looming birds.
Aggrey Paul Okwakol, Senior Community Development Officer, Pallisa Town Council, attributes the high rate of school dropouts to poverty, irresponsible parents, and deep-rooted negative cultural norms.
Okwakol said traditional activities such as rice growing, where children are employed to scare away birds in the gardens, are also the major cause of school dropouts.
“During the rice-growing season, many children tend to dodge school and instead prefer to earn a living in rice gardens due to the high levels of poverty,” Okwakol said.
Okwakol added that traditional activities such as rice growing, where children are employed to scare away birds in the gardens, are also the major cause of school dropouts.
The objective of the survey was to determine the enrolment and magnitude of non-completion of the primary education cycle in the district.
The report also indicates that the district is also losing a huge sum of money in terms of Universal Primary Education (UPE) capitation grants due to high school dropouts.
Paul Kossa, a resident of Nansenye, Kaucho Ward within Pallisa Town Council, said rampant teenage pregnancies and a negative attitude towards education in the communities have worsened the situation.
“The still prevalent negative attitude by parents towards education is the biggest challenge that is crippling the education standards in the district,” Kossa said.
Several residents said cases of pupils failing to complete their education were due to the high levels of poverty. Some of the parents did mention to us that the artificial scare craws are no longer scaring away birds, and that’s why they employ children to scare away birds.
“The majority of parents can’t afford to meet the basic needs of their children while at school,” one of the residents said.
Shaine Musa, a Pallisa Taxi Park employee, said underage marriage is on the increase because parents marry off their children to get wealth.
“The district has tried to sensitise the communities about the dangers of marrying off their children, but the information has not yet trickled into the hearts of our people,” he said.