Child labour keeping hundreds out of schools in Zombo, says UNATU

By Mike Rwothomio

Statistics published by Uganda national teachers union ( UNATU) Zombo branch, which is implementing “The  Stop child labour project”  in some schools in Zombo district has pinpointed child labour as the leading cause of school dropouts in the area. #WhisperEyeNews

The study was conducted between January 2022 and 2023 in the rural 12 primary schools in the project pilot sub-counties of Abanga and Paidha with support from Education International.

According to the Union, Out of every 10 children that start school in term one annually, about 5 drop out of school as a result of forced labour at home.

The District child labour project focal person under Uganda national teachers’ Union (UNATU) In Zombo district Willy Ocaya published the findings during the belated celebration of the international child labour for  Zombo district at Jupumwocu primary school playground in Cana Parish Paidha Sub-county on the 23rd of this month with the Social justice for all. He attributed the high dropout rate to laxity by most stakeholders in addition to negative attitudes towards education by parents and children.

Ocaya also blamed the rising cases of high dropout rates in schools on frequent transfers of teachers, Headteachers and political heads at sub-county levels most of whom are trained by the Union to address the  Vice of high dropout rate at various levels. 

” Before this stop child labour project started in 2016, 4 out of every 10 children annually would drop out of school as a result of child labour annually. Our intervention through training at different levels reduced the rate in 2019 – 2020 but Covid_19 prevalence worsened the situation. Again, the dropout rate as a result of different forms of child labour has gone up to 5 out of every 10 children annually. This is so alarming and we call for a joint collaboration amongst all stakeholders.”, Ocaya noted 

Uganda labour law prohibits the involvement of children under the age of 12 in any form of employment.

The LC 3 chairperson of Paidha Sub-county William Okethi said school dropout rates are eminent annually between August and December, when the subcounty witness a mass exodus of school-going children engaging in coffee picking and selling business by the roadsides.

He also added that most children that supply labour for coffee businessmen in Paidha town council during coffee season come from the two sub-counties of Abanga and Paidha.

” Child labour is real here, especially during the coffee season, all the town businessmen are using these children from Abanga and Paidha during the coffee season and we now call upon parents to do their part as us leaders try our part.”, Okethi said.

The International Labour Organisation defines child labour as any work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and one that is harmful to the physical and mental development of the child. 

Richard Rwothomio, a teacher at Oruku primary school  in Paidha Sub-county believe much as parents and children are to majorly blame for the high drop out rate as a result of forced child  labour at home, teachers are to  partly blame 

“Some of us teachers are not giving these children a conducive environment for learning. Things like corporal punishment are still extensive in some schools and some teachers lack basic skills to handle learners”, Rwothomio said.

Albert Atimnedi, the catechist of Omoyo Chapel in Paidha Catholic Parish has blamed the high dropout rate as a result of child labour on negative attitudes of parents towards education. He said many parents involve children in garden work without caring about their studies.

According to Nazarene Ongiera,  A resident of Oryew village, Cana Parish Paidha Sub-county, “Mothers are left to handle children alone and many end up diverting these children for home chores thus forcing them out of school,”

Though the Uganda government has pledged assurance to eliminate the deeply rooted child labour vice by 2025, 6.2 million (40 %) children are engaged in different forms of child labour according to the 2021 findings by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, and National labour force survey. The majority of these children are involved in agricultural work and rural areas take the lead in child labour at 19.5% as compared to urban areas with only 11.3%.

Intervention of UNATU 

In a bid to champion a robust fight against the vice of child labour that is playing a key role in the high drop out rate, the Union has been amongst other interventions organising frequent community drives, radio talk shows, posters, developing attendance tracking registers for learners, training teachers on how to make school a conducive learning environment for learners and orienting local and Sub-county leaders on child labour.