Kasese Head Teachers Tracing for School Drop-Outs Ahead of PLE

Head Teachers in Kasese District have started tracing for learners who dropped out of school during the lockdown.   

The Chief Administrative Officer-CAO Kasese, Amis Asuman Masereka says 10,152 pupils registered to sit for Primary Leaving Examination-PLE this year but 482 did not report back when candidate classes re-opened in November. 

In October schools reopened, but only for candidate classes, after more than six months of inactivity following the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.  

The resolution to trace for the learners was reached during a meeting for both primary and secondary school headteachers held at Kasese Youth Polytechnic in Kasese Municipality on Friday.

Masereka says that 271 of those that dropped out are girls who they believe could have been married off and some shied away from school because of pregnancies.  He says the campaign intends to have all candidates that registered sit for their final exams.

George Mayinja the District Education Officer-DEO asked both parents and other stakeholders to help the authorities.  He adds that the ministry of education said that pregnant girls should be encouraged and supported to go back to school. 

Meanwhile, only 2% of pupils who sat for mocks in the district managed to pass in Division One and 17% were ungraded.     

Last year the State Minister of High Education John Chrysostom Muyingo during a district tour assured the locals that government was up to improve school performances in the district.  

He said the ministry was to take a study on what is leading to under performance. However, this activity is yet to be carried out.