A report released by Usawa Agenda shows that at least 8.5 percent of school-going learners are out of school despite efforts by the government and other stakeholders to arrest the situation.
“Concerted efforts have been mounted in the past that got us to the point where in 2021 after COVID-19 enforced school closures, only 7.5% of school-aged children were out of school. This number has increased in 2023 to 8.5%,” said part of the report.
On a positive note, the report notes that 9 in 10 children aged 4 to 15 years are enrolled in school across the country although a lot still needs to be done.
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On the flip side, 16 in 100 children of pre-school age are out of school. 8 in 100 children of primary school age are out of school. On average, 9 in 100 children of school age are out of school. generally, more boys of school-going age are out of school than girls.
The report also indicated that children of school age in female-headed households are 0.7% more likely to be out of school than their counterparts in male-headed households. Boys of school age are 0.6% more likely to be out of school than girls.
At the same time, 2 in 10 children with any form of disability are out of school. 15 in 100 children with any form of disability dropped out of school. 5 in 100 children with any form of disability never enrolled in school.
Children with autism are more likely to drop out of school than any other form of disability. Children with mental health challenges are the most likely to never enroll in school.
“Our education is not where we need it to be. A lot still needs to be done to ensure that our learners are getting quality education. As it stands at the moment, very little is happening,” said Dr. Emmanuel Manyasa, the Executive Director at Usawa Agenda.
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