Non-Financial Barriers to Education in Uganda

Students in Uganda face an array of serious obstacles to completing even their primary and secondary school education. Many of these have to do with poverty and anemic school funding, but there are other types of challenges as well. Here are some of the practical educational barriers these students face—and how you can help.

Gender Barriers

Girls face a host of disadvantages when it comes to getting even a basic education, including:

• Prioritizing boys’ education. Given the high costs of education and perceptions of gender roles in Uganda, families often choose to send their sons to school rather than their daughters.
• Inadequate facilities and supplies. Many schools don’t have modern restrooms to offer girls privacy. In addition, many families can’t afford sanitary products, causing teen girls to miss school several days per month.
• Childcare obligations. Many girls are forced to drop out of school in order to care for their siblings and do domestic chores.
• Premature marriage and childcare. Early teen and child marriage in Africa occur at high rates due to poverty and cultural factors. Girls are often married off prematurely to relieve their families of the financial burden of supporting them, and many subsequently have children to care for. Teen pregnancy out of wedlock and subsequent childcare responsibilities are common in Uganda as well.

The Need To Work

Children of both genders are often forced to forgo school so that they can work and provide income for their families. The irony is that these jobs are often low-paying with little security, and missing out on an education excludes kids and teens from eventually attaining the very high-quality jobs that could lift them and their families out of poverty.

Long Distances to Schools and Clean Water Sources

Teachers and students in rural areas often have to walk long distances to reach the nearest school or water source. For both, this takes valuable time away from teaching and learning. For students in particular, long commutes also heighten their risk of being kidnapped en route and trafficked. When clean drinking water is also located far from schools, students who make the trek to fetch it during the school day miss valuable class time.

Teaching and Learning Challenges

Schools, teachers, and students all face a number of challenges that hinder student learning:

• Student absenteeism (due to health, logistical, or gender-related reasons)
• Teacher absenteeism (due to inadequate staff management, pay, or accommodations)
• Large class sizes and poor grade level structuring (students of many ages and learning levels are often lumped into the same classes)
• Inadequate learning materials (due to poor public school funding)

Remove Barriers to Education With Simone’s Kids

Simone’s Kids in Nakaseke, Uganda provides high-quality primary and secondary education and meets basic needs—including access to clean water, safety measures, and an on-site medical clinic—for children in order to help them break the cycle of poverty. Your donations help pay for monthly tuition and purchase school supplies, textbooks, food, and other necessities for Ugandan students. You can donate money, stocks, and cryptocurrency, and you can see if your employer participates in a matching donation program that will double your gift.

You can maximize your impact with recurring donations to Simone’s Kids by joining The Village. The Village is a passionate group of donors committed to bettering the lives of children in Uganda by making monthly donations that help to provide better meals, more teachers, more activities, and even post-graduation services. You can even choose which level of education you’d most like to support (or support them all)! Give today!