By Viola Nabatanzi         

The latest research among secondary school students in Kampala has produced shocking revelations on their sexual behaviour.

The study, conducted by the Makerere University School of Public Health, under its Crane Survey series, was done on students from S.3 to S.6 in Kampala schools between June and October 2010. A total of 3,434 randomly selected students from 54 schools participated in the survey funded by the US president’s emergency plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR).

According to the findings, over a quarter of the respondents (28.8%) were sexually active. Equally disturbing is that one in every 50 female students had ever conceived, of which 21% had ever aborted while 16% suffered miscarriages. 

About 8.3% of the students reported having practiced oral sex, while 1.3% of the boys and 0.9% of the girls said they had ever practiced anal sex.

The report also says that 5.6% of the students said they had ever had sex with their relatives and 14% of these said that relative was their parent. About 15.4% said the reason for first time sex was money and other favours they were receiving from their partners. Another 12.3% said they were forced. 

The report, which aimed at establishing students’ risk behaviour, was launched yesterday at the Kampala Grand Imperial Hotel. 

Of the 54 schools sampled, 40 (74%) were private non-denominational, seven were government-owned, six were Christian-based and one was a Muslim school. All were mixed schools, while 61% of them operate both boarding and day sections.

On alcohol consumption, one in four students (27.2%) said they consuming alcohol, while 5.4% confessed to ever using illicit drugs like marijuana, petrol and cocaine. 8% confessed to stealing alcohol from small bars located in the city suburbs.

However, the report also showed some positive developments including the fact that most sexually active students used condoms and had ever tested for HIV. As a result, over 91% of the students were HIV negative.

A cross section of participants discussed the findings and asked the education ministry to tackle drug abuse and absenteeism in order to redeem the situation. 

Yudaya Mukulembeze, head teacher Kitebi SS, complimented the report and said majority of rape cases usually occur at the students’ homes, normally by their relatives. She wished the survey had included S.1 and S.2 students, whom she said were the most victims of pre-marital sex. 

To curb most of the vices among students especially drunkenness and rape, the report called for massive interventions aimed at changing some negative social norms in the various parts of the country.

Correction: We apologize for the earlier headline we used for this piece " 21% of Ugandan students have ever aborted". It was erroneously used.