AFRICA/UGANDA - Schools have been reopened, a missionary: "Eradicating poverty among children through education"

Saturday, 29 January 2022 education   children  

Moroto (Agenzia Fides) - "In the last two years, in addition to government measures, which have not reached everyone, especially in rural schools, there have been some support projects for education financed from abroad. Many volunteers have tried to reach the most remote areas, distributing photocopies and didactic material. Many teachers have also lost their jobs. Seeing students again in schools, seeing them laugh, play, is a joy". Thus reported in an interview with Fides Sister Teresa Sagal, who belongs to the Congregation of the Evangelizing Sisters of Mary, speaking of the reopening of schools in Uganda after more than 20 months of lockdown imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sister Teresa is coordinator of the education department in the diocese of Moroto, a town located in the north-east of the country: "When in recent weeks, President Museveni announced the reopening of schools - she says - many families hurried to enroll their children for fear that the schools might be full".
According to official data, about 30% of schools will not be able to reopen "because there are no essential health security conditions - explains the nun - and, in addition to this, we must consider the social gap that grips the country which, in this situation, has shown even more its tragic effects: in order to provide distance education services - she continues - the Ugandan government relied on radio and television learning during the pandemic. However, this approach has widened the inequality gap as only 32% of households own a radio and only 19% have a television. Many volunteers went from village to village to distribute photocopies and teaching materials, but many students were completely out of education for over two years".
In Uganda only 40% of children are literate when they leave primary school; then there are more than 500 thousand refugee minors. "Since the schools have been closed - notes the nun - many of them have fallen into the traps of the exploitation of child labor. Furthermore, in the past year, there has also been a significant increase in teenage pregnancies and early marriages. Government guidelines - she continues - require pregnant girls to stay out of school until the sixth month of pregnancy. For this reason - she points out - many girls encounter great difficulties in returning to school and in most cases, about 59%, drop out of school". The Evangelizing Sisters of Mary are working to eradicate poverty among vulnerable children through education, with a view to the integral growth of the person: "We hope that there will be investments in the school to improve - concludes Sister Teresa - since the numerous children in need of education represent a crucial issue for the country's future". (ES) (Agenzia Fides, 29/1/2022)


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