While Education is seen as an important tool to address the problem of child trafficking, many children in the district are facing challenges in accessing quality education.
As a result, children have dropped out of school and are now living in the streets of towns, mainly Kampala and Nairobi in Kenya, where parents often send them to beg for money to feed their families.
Hundreds of children in the Napak district are dropping out
of school every year to join the streets due to a lack of access to quality education.
Whereas the government policy states that every parish must
have a government primary school, Napak district has only 24 Parishes with
government schools out of 59 parishes. The nearest government school is about 8
to 11 kilometers a distance that cannot be walked daily by tender-aged children.
While Education is seen as an important tool to address the
problem of child trafficking, many children in the district are facing
challenges in accessing quality education.
As a result, children have dropped out of school and are now
living in the streets of towns, mainly Kampala and Nairobi in Kenya, where parents
often send them to beg for money to feed their families.
The report from the district education department shows that
approximately 87 percent of children in the district drop out of school due to
many factors, such as poverty and long distance to school, and the negative
attitude that prioritizes children as breadwinners for families.
Joyce Nakoya, the Napak District Education Officer, said
that lack of access to education has greatly contributed to the rise of child
trafficking and more children driven to street life.
Nakoya said that schools often register high numbers in the
lower classes, and the numbers drastically reduce when they reach the upper
classes.
She stressed that the drop always starts between the primary
four and seven classes, and the majority of those children find their way to
towns to live on the streets.
Nakoya said that most of the parishes have community
schools, which were started by the NUSAF 1 program, and they were not grant-aided
by the government.
Nakoya noted that the parents have lost interest in having
children go to community schools because they want to be where there is
government support.
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Nakoya further explained that most schools have opted to run
boarding sections, but they are hindered by limited resources. She said that
the schools are struggling to provide meals for supper since the World Food Programme
only supports midday meals.
Nakoya appealed to the government to support the feeding of
the children in the boarding section.
Nakoya observed that most of the households survive on a
single meal because of biting poverty, and this frustrates their efforts to pay
money for school feeding.
Nakoya said that the parents are no longer responsible for
their duties, and now the officials have embarked on parental sessions to try
to remind them about their responsibilities.
Nakoya also urged the local leaders to come up with the
bylaws that enable the parents to take on the responsibilities of their
children and embrace education.
John Paul Kodet, the LCV Chairperson for Napak district,
asked the police to support him in enforcing the laws to ensure that all the
children go to school.
Kodet said that he is starting up another new campaign to
ensure that all the children who are still hiding in the kraals are rounded up
and forcefully taken to school.
Kodet, however, noticed that the children come from parishes
that do not have a single primary school.
Kodet challenged the government to code at least the 21
schools that have been established in the community so that children can attain
education.
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Robert Abia Owilli, the deputy Chief Administration officer for
Napak district, called upon the government and development partners to provide
the necessary resources for the children at school.
Owilli noted that the parents should also be brought to book
and charged for failing to fulfil their parental roles of raising children.
Owilli urged the stakeholders to support the district by
ensuring they provide better school facilities to support learning.
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A report from Napak District Local Government estimates that about 4,000
children are now living on the streets in urban centres, particularly Kampala
and Nairobi.
