Govt Asked to Address Rising School Dropout Rate in Batwa Community

Kabale District | The Black Examiner – The government of Uganda has been questioned for failing to find ways of improving education standards in educating Batwa children where the dropout cases are on increase according to statistics and Research.

This has been said today by the Kabale University  Dean of the faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Prof. Wilson Bamwerinde while addressing the stakeholders meeting from Kisoro, Kanungu, and Rubanda districts that was organized at Whitehorse INN in Kabale municipality by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust (BMCT), Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Kabale University, where he portrayed the concern that the school dropout rate of Batwa children has increased basing on previous findings.

According to Prof. Bamwerinde 2023 research report indicates that almost 90% of Batwa Children have dropped schools due to poverty, culture and influence of parents where they inherit illiterate parents beliefs, early marriages, long distance travels to access education services, failure to provide children with food while going to their respective schools but also low income capacity to buy scholastic materials resorting to casual activities which has made their standards of living to remain stunted in terms of development saying in case they are encountered with shall promote the Batwa children education requesting full participation in advocating for Batwa children education.


Furthermore the chairperson Parents, Teachers, Association (PTA) Kiheembe Primary school in Kanungu Primary School Loy Katarikawe, Justus Byaruhanga a Parent all blamed the local council leaders for failing to play their roles in form of making follow-ups in making sure that Batwa children have gone to school which has led them to get involved in un productive activities most especially in different Trading centers.

Batwa, also known as Pygmies, are an indigenous group of people found in parts of Kanungu, Kisoro, Rubanda and Kabale where the research findings of 2019, suggested that more than 40% of Batwa Children face psychological abuse, at school and at home which affects their ability to commit to seeking a formal education.

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