40,000 pupils defiled by their teachers
Aug 02, 2008
A total of 4% of upper primary school pupils in Uganda have been defiled by their teachers in the last one year, according to a 2008 study funded by the World Bank. That means that 43,000 girls in P5 to P7, roughly between 10 and 14 years old, have been sexually abused by the very people who are sup
A total of 4% of upper primary school pupils in Uganda have been defiled by their teachers in the last one year, according to a 2008 study funded by the World Bank. That means that 43,000 girls in P5 to P7, roughly between 10 and 14 years old, have been sexually abused by the very people who are supposed to protect them.
Girls are lured into sex with their teachers in all kinds of ways, including promises of gifts and good marks. But even without these kind of enticements, girls fear the negative consequences if they refuse to give in to sexual advances from teachers.
By Chris Kiwawulo
IT was a school party. Pupils ate, and so did teachers. Soon, it was time to serve another round of drinks. Wilfred Komakech opened the headmaster’s office, to fetch more crates of soda only to find his boss, the head teacher, wriggling on top of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
On the basis of Komakech’s testimony and medical examination, Charles Kinyera, the former headmaster of Gwengdiya Primary School, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for defilement. Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on grounds that the head teacher “shamelessly defiled a pupil he was supposed to protect.â€
Sadly, this is not an isolated story. About 4% of upper primary school girls are sacrificed by their teachers at the altar of lust, according to a recent countrywide survey. While this might seem a small percentage, it means that 43,635 of the 1,090,853 girls currently in upper primary school admit they have been defiled by their teachers. Overall, says the report, 10% of upper primary school girls admitted having had sexual relationships. Out of every 10 relationships, four were with teachers.
The survey, funded by the World Bank, covered 380 schools in 17 districts in all regions of the country. It was done by the International Development Consultants (IDC) on behalf of the Ministry of Education. A similar 1994 study of primary school pupils in Uganda found that 11% of girls said they had been forced to have sex with a teacher.
Sulaiman Madada, Bbaale County MP, is not surprised by the findings. Madada says he has heard complaints about teachers defiling their pupils and when the culprits get into trouble, they rush to their MPs for help.
“When a child leaves home to go to school, the teachers become the next guardians. I cannot bail out a teacher who defiles pupils irrespective of whether they are my voters or not,†he says.
Madada points out that usually, girls give in to teachers’ sexual demands because they fear the consequences of refusing. Martha Muhwezi, national coordinator of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, says during school visits, the NGO receives various complaints about teachers making sexual advances to their pupils.
Teachers, she says, lure girls with small gifts and promises of higher marks in class. They use tricks such as asking girls to take books to their houses. Some of the defilers are either single or work away from their spouses. They try to create a situation in which they are alone with the pupil in the house.
As a result of defilement, Muhwezi observes, girls end up getting pregnant, dropping out of school or becoming infected with HIV. “But the problem is that in some cases, parents are compromised by accepting money and the offending teachers walk away scot-free.â€
Simeo Nsubuga, Kampala Extra Region Police spokesperson, points out that teachers are among the leading defilers in Uganda. Last year, 12,230 defilement cases were registered countrywide, most of them in the rural areas. “Although we are carrying out arrests and over 4,000 defilers have been charged, we should go an extra mile by bringing the teachers on board through sensitising them,†he says.
Nsubuga appeals to the education ministry to recruit more female teachers and equip them with skills to counsel school girls about how to avoid being abused by male teachers.
According to Section 123 of the Penal Code, a man who has sexual intercourse with a girl aged less than 18 years is guilty of defilement. The maximum punishment for defilement is a death sentence.
Felix Onenchan, a teacher at Entebbe Christian Primary School, explains that due to adolescence, many girls in upper primary schools undergo body changes, yet they remain psychologically immature. Instead of helping the girls to understand and cope with these changes, some teachers take advantage of them.
“Girls from P.5 to P.7 are undergoing adolescence and are therefore adventurous and vibrant because their bodies are undergoing several changes. If a teacher does not realise this, they end up messing up with these pupils,†he observes.
He notes that whereas the teachers’ professional code of conduct prohibits sexual relations with pupils, no matter what age, it is not implemented. As a proactive measure, Onenchan is of the view that the education ministry, NGOs and other stakeholders increase monitoring and counselling of pupils about the dangers of early sex.
The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect Uganda is one of the NGOs already working on that.
“We are moving around schools, telling these children that they can get unwanted pregnancies, get sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS, on top of dropping out of school,†says Joshua Lubandi, the network’s spoksperson.
The NGO insists that a primary school girl is not mature enough to give informed consent to sex and calls for tougher punishment on culprits.
Education minister Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire says her ministry does not tolerate such teachers and warns that if caught, they will be prosecuted and dismissed from service.
“A teacher is, by law, not supposed to have any sexual relations with his pupils. If they do, they are breaking the law and contravening their professional code of conduct,†she notes.
Punitive action aside, the ministry has introduced the Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communicating to Young People, a project aimed at protecting school girls and boys from HIV.
The project coordinator, Yusuf Nsubuga, says they have an elaborate training and sensitisation programme through which teachers and pupils attain sexual education. “The programme is intended to specifically sensitise pupils about sex and sexuality.†Whether these measures will make teachers zip-up remains to be seen.
Girls are lured into sex with their teachers in all kinds of ways, including promises of gifts and good marks. But even without these kind of enticements, girls fear the negative consequences if they refuse to give in to sexual advances from teachers.
By Chris Kiwawulo
IT was a school party. Pupils ate, and so did teachers. Soon, it was time to serve another round of drinks. Wilfred Komakech opened the headmaster’s office, to fetch more crates of soda only to find his boss, the head teacher, wriggling on top of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
On the basis of Komakech’s testimony and medical examination, Charles Kinyera, the former headmaster of Gwengdiya Primary School, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for defilement. Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on grounds that the head teacher “shamelessly defiled a pupil he was supposed to protect.â€
Sadly, this is not an isolated story. About 4% of upper primary school girls are sacrificed by their teachers at the altar of lust, according to a recent countrywide survey. While this might seem a small percentage, it means that 43,635 of the 1,090,853 girls currently in upper primary school admit they have been defiled by their teachers. Overall, says the report, 10% of upper primary school girls admitted having had sexual relationships. Out of every 10 relationships, four were with teachers.
The survey, funded by the World Bank, covered 380 schools in 17 districts in all regions of the country. It was done by the International Development Consultants (IDC) on behalf of the Ministry of Education. A similar 1994 study of primary school pupils in Uganda found that 11% of girls said they had been forced to have sex with a teacher.
Sulaiman Madada, Bbaale County MP, is not surprised by the findings. Madada says he has heard complaints about teachers defiling their pupils and when the culprits get into trouble, they rush to their MPs for help.
“When a child leaves home to go to school, the teachers become the next guardians. I cannot bail out a teacher who defiles pupils irrespective of whether they are my voters or not,†he says.
Madada points out that usually, girls give in to teachers’ sexual demands because they fear the consequences of refusing. Martha Muhwezi, national coordinator of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, says during school visits, the NGO receives various complaints about teachers making sexual advances to their pupils.
Teachers, she says, lure girls with small gifts and promises of higher marks in class. They use tricks such as asking girls to take books to their houses. Some of the defilers are either single or work away from their spouses. They try to create a situation in which they are alone with the pupil in the house.
As a result of defilement, Muhwezi observes, girls end up getting pregnant, dropping out of school or becoming infected with HIV. “But the problem is that in some cases, parents are compromised by accepting money and the offending teachers walk away scot-free.â€
Simeo Nsubuga, Kampala Extra Region Police spokesperson, points out that teachers are among the leading defilers in Uganda. Last year, 12,230 defilement cases were registered countrywide, most of them in the rural areas. “Although we are carrying out arrests and over 4,000 defilers have been charged, we should go an extra mile by bringing the teachers on board through sensitising them,†he says.
Nsubuga appeals to the education ministry to recruit more female teachers and equip them with skills to counsel school girls about how to avoid being abused by male teachers.
According to Section 123 of the Penal Code, a man who has sexual intercourse with a girl aged less than 18 years is guilty of defilement. The maximum punishment for defilement is a death sentence.
Felix Onenchan, a teacher at Entebbe Christian Primary School, explains that due to adolescence, many girls in upper primary schools undergo body changes, yet they remain psychologically immature. Instead of helping the girls to understand and cope with these changes, some teachers take advantage of them.
“Girls from P.5 to P.7 are undergoing adolescence and are therefore adventurous and vibrant because their bodies are undergoing several changes. If a teacher does not realise this, they end up messing up with these pupils,†he observes.
He notes that whereas the teachers’ professional code of conduct prohibits sexual relations with pupils, no matter what age, it is not implemented. As a proactive measure, Onenchan is of the view that the education ministry, NGOs and other stakeholders increase monitoring and counselling of pupils about the dangers of early sex.
The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect Uganda is one of the NGOs already working on that.
“We are moving around schools, telling these children that they can get unwanted pregnancies, get sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS, on top of dropping out of school,†says Joshua Lubandi, the network’s spoksperson.
The NGO insists that a primary school girl is not mature enough to give informed consent to sex and calls for tougher punishment on culprits.
Education minister Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire says her ministry does not tolerate such teachers and warns that if caught, they will be prosecuted and dismissed from service.
“A teacher is, by law, not supposed to have any sexual relations with his pupils. If they do, they are breaking the law and contravening their professional code of conduct,†she notes.
Punitive action aside, the ministry has introduced the Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communicating to Young People, a project aimed at protecting school girls and boys from HIV.
The project coordinator, Yusuf Nsubuga, says they have an elaborate training and sensitisation programme through which teachers and pupils attain sexual education. “The programme is intended to specifically sensitise pupils about sex and sexuality.†Whether these measures will make teachers zip-up remains to be seen.