Impact of closure of schools due to COVID-19 pandemic

Vision Group launched the second phase of a three-month multi-media campaign dubbed ‘Live Your Dream’ in February 2021. 

The multimedia campaign is one component of the broader Live Your Dream campaign that focuses on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Live Your Dream is implemented in the context of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) global strategic plan. 

This phase of the campaign is also implemented in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, given the serious impacts that the pandemic has had on access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Ruth Cheptoyek 14, would now be engaging in home-study activities with her peers while waiting for schools to be reopened soon. 

But Cheptoyek is eight months pregnant. She was a P5 pupil at Kapchorwa primary school last year. She is one among the number of girls who have fallen since schools were closed last March, due to Covid-19.

Her mother, Lilian Chemtai, is yet to come to terms with the news. 

“My daughter’s dreams have been shattered. She is going to become a mother at 14, it hurts,” says a frustrated Chemtai, whose worry right now is whether her daughter will be able to deliver safely given her tender age.

 What is even more frustrating is that the man responsible is walking free. 

Chemtai reported her daughter’s case to the police but nothing was done. She suspects the parents of the young man compromised the police.

The live your dream campaign

Girls like Cheptoyek are the reason why UNFPA has launched a second phase of the “The Live Your Dream campaign”. 

The campaign is based on the principle that everyone, young and old women and men, have dreams, notes Martha Songa, the programme analyst advocacy, partnerships and networking at UNFPA.

The campaign, therefore, seeks to engage communities across Uganda in identifying and implementing solutions to the challenges they face and inspire them to work towards achieving their dreams, Songa notes.

 She is optimistic that this second phase of the campaign will contribute to the engagement around sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to address key challenges that may stop young people from achieving their potential.  

It will also inspire action towards a better life for young people and women and promote the well-being of men and women in Uganda.

 According to Songa, the campaign is hinged on four key pillars to deliver different messages. 

One being the Let Girls be Girls which focuses on addressing issues that abruptly end the childhood of girls including gender-based violence (GBV), harmful social and cultural practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation.

 “We believe that all women and girls have the right to lead vibrant, dynamic lives where they can be bold in the pursuit of their aspirations,” she says.

  The second pillar, “Books before Babies” emphasizes keeping girls in school by addressing barriers to education and promoting access to appropriate education on reproductive health and rights to prevent teenage pregnancies and HIV.

The third pillar WITH YOU (TH) aims at investing in young people to unleash their potential, empower them for innovations and social change. 

About 78% of Uganda’s population are young people below 35 years. Young people, especially girls are disproportionately affected by ill-health. 

This is evident with the HIV prevalence among young people aged between 15 and 24 years at 3.7 % and it is much higher at 9.1% among females aged 20 to 24 years.

The generation for generation (G4G) pillar focuses on bringing generations together, infusing the wisdom of the elderly with the energies of the youth and tapping into the insights of academia with the diversity of views of decision-makers to improve policies that affect Uganda's future.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had several negative effects on sexual and reproductive health and rights and the issues are being addressed in the campaign.

 Lockdown makes girls vulnerable

Schools are considered safe spaces for girls with the belief that while they are there, they are less likely to get involved in behaviour that could lead to teen pregnancy, or expose them to sexual and gender-based violence.

However, the closure of schools as a measure to tame the spread of Covid-19 had negative effects on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Data reveals that during the lockdown, Uganda was hit by high levels of teenage pregnancy and child marriage. Eastern Uganda (Busoga) was the most affected, recording the highest number. 

Luuka district alone reported more than 600 cases since the closure of schools. West Nile and Ankole regions are also reporting many cases. 

According to a Police report, over 4, 442 cases of defilement were reported between January and April 2020. 

The SAUTI reported 800 cases of sexual abuse between January and May 2020 including increased cases of teenage pregnancy. 

Noting that some cases may not be reported, the situation could be worse.

 Masindi district grappling with teenage pregnancy

The medical superintendent Masindi Hospital Dr Felix Rwekururu says the number of pregnant teenagers seeking antenatal services at the hospital has been increasing from the time of the lockdown.  

Records reveal that in March 2020, 35 teenage mums were recorded.

There were 34 in April, 37 in May, 59 in June, 45 in July, 51 in August, 35 in September, 41 in October, 44 in November and 34 in December. 

The hospital recorded 48 teen pregnancies in January 2021.

The Masindi education officer Francis Kyomuhendo notes that when candidate classes resumed, each school registered a shortfall in the number of girls reporting back.

 According to a report released by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Uganda has the highest school drop-out rate at 70% in East Africa, followed by Kenya, then Tanzania.

 Data from the World Bank’s collection of development indicators compiled from officially recognized sources in 2016 indicate that the Primary school completion rate in Uganda stands at 52.6%. 

This means that of every 10 pupils who enrol for primary school, only five sit primarily leaving examinations.

 Yet another World Bank study found that in Africa, each year of school raises average earnings by 11.3% for males and 14.5% for females.

Apart from sensitizing parents to take care of their children, Kyomuhendo says there is no other intervention in place to curb the vice. 

Meanwhile, parents have expressed frustration in failing to control the children during this long period schools have been closed.   

 Teenage pregnancy in Karamoja 

The Amudat district vice-chairperson, Dorcus Chelain, notes that the lockdown resulted in many girls getting married. 

Chelain estimates that a total of 180 girls in Amudat have gotten pregnant from the time schools were closed. 

Others have been forced into early marriage, which Chelain attributes to high poverty levels as parents long for bride price.

UDHS 2016 report estimates that about 20% of girls are married before their 18th birthday. 

Child marriage not only jeopardizes the girls’ rights to health but also to education and the possibility of fulfilling their full potential.

Worse still transport restrictions in the bid to observe total lockdown barred parents from accessing police stations to report the perpetrators. As such, the victims were not accorded justice.

 The impact of teenage pregnancy should not be underestimated as some frustrated parents have attempted suicide. 

Recently, Lydia Angura a resident of Kamuticen village in Amudat town council was on the verge of committing suicide after she discovered her two daughters were pregnant She was rescued by residents before going through with it. 

  Merab Alosikin of the National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda, says since the onset of the lockdown, regular engagement with girls in the district and their parents came to a halt, yet these communities are so deeply rooted in their culture.

As a result, some girls lured into sexual relationships, hence becoming pregnant and others getting married off, with the most affected being school-going girls. 

Alosikin thinks the practice of early marriage has been fueled by men who spread false information that schools will be opened after five years. 

“This is for their selfish gains. They want the girls to get discouraged, give up school, and opt for marriage,” she notes. 

Francis Koriang a parent in Amudat district partly blames the spike in teenage pregnancies on community engagements and public gatherings.

He says there should be by-laws prohibiting girls from mixing with adults after certain hours.

Teenage prostitution and alcoholism on the rise in Kween district

The number of girls engaging in prostitution and alcohol consumption is on the rise, says the district education officer of Kween, Michael Cherotich Kaptekit.

“The prolonged closure of schools has resulted in some girls getting married off early to bodaboda cyclists and businessmen,” he notes.

Similarly, Benna Arapta the district community development officer in Kween notes that Binyi sub-county is a hot spot area for female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriages, child labour and child neglect. 

During the lockdown, she registered 27 teenage pregnancies in the sub-county with the majority aged between 14 and 17. In addition, 17 cases of child marriage were recorded. 

Of these, two girls married to older men, hence becoming second wives. The other 15 married fellow teenagers.  

Of the 15, four cases were a result of defilement and it is alleged that the perpetrators were working on the Kapchorwa Kween road construction project.

Cherotich says efforts to prosecute the culprits were futile because parents seemed to have hand in the matter. 

“When the Police go to make an arrest, parents complicate the issue by defending them. Parents want to extort money to buy alcohol at the expense of their daughters,” adds Cherotich.

To safeguard the girls who have not yet gotten pregnant, the district officials are raising awareness through radio talk shows, urging parents to keep the children at home by occupying them with reading materials.

“Parents should be told that the future of their children matters. The children can be productive citizens and should therefore be given the opportunity to study, instead of marrying them off early” he notes.  

Education officials speak out

Recently, officials from the education ministry distributed learning materials and radios to households across the country. 

Television and radio lessons are also ongoing to aid continuity of learning. 

The director basic and secondary education at the ministry, Dr Ismail Mulinde explains that this is aimed at killing the redundancy which results in girls being misled.

Mulinde further explains that a free toll line has been installed in the education ministry to receive complaints about issues affecting girls in the communities. 

Besides, the gender ministry regularly conducts radio talk shows, during which they counsel and encourage girls to remain focused.