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Leaders in Arua Muslim District Start Back to School Program

14 Oct 2024 08:46
Jaffar Yasin Drate, the Arua Muslim District Social Services Secretary

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Muslim Leaders in Arua have embarked on mobilizing and taking back-to-school, girls who had dropped out. Jaffar Yasin Drate, the Arua Muslim District Social Services Secretary, told Uganda Radio Network that the initiative was started because Muslim-founded schools have not been performing well in Primary Leaving Examinations.   

Drate revealed that the first thing the office of the Kadhi did was to reach out to many of the schools to bring them on board as part of the Arua Muslim District and easily mobilize those who needed support. Under this mobilisation, 500 children were supported with scholastic materials.  

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Drate noted that the initiative is also aimed to encourage the Muslim community to embrace education like other religious denominations and also to give the girl-child who drops out of school after getting pregnant, a second chance at education.  

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Drate blamed the parents and brothers of such girls for keeping them at home, even when they are academically sound.  

Since the initiative started in March 2024, 120 children have been sent back to school in Kampala, both in primary school, on full scholarships, with funds from Turkey.  

Drate said the support will next year be extended to learners who excel in this year’s national examinations.  

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The initiative comes when education performance in West Nile is dismal.  

Raymond Ombere, the Senior Education Officer of Arua City, blamed the low education level in West Nile on the negative attitude of parents, who are hesitant to pay even 1,000 shillings towards their children’s education.  

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The recent national housing and population census results released by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics indicate that 60 percent of the youth in the West Nile sub-region are not educated, and not in employment.  

The report also shows that 28 percent of people in West Nile have never attended school, 29 percent have no formal education, only 7.8 percent have completed formal education and only 14.7 percent have a first degree.

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