MAJOR CAUSES OF ILLITERACY IN UGANDA

Tackling the roots of illiteracy in Uganda

Illiteracy in Uganda is generally considered to be the inability to read and write, but this goes further that just that. The in depth definition of illiteracy is the inadequacy of reading and writing skills to manage the daily life tasks.

Yes, the government of Uganda tried its best and started up the Universal Primary Education and the Universal Secondary Education that furnished opportunities for every child in Uganda to access education. But this was only kept in the very poor government schools that even a primary seven pupil cannot be compared to a primary three pupil in a good private school.

This was less to zero, number of Ugandans who have gone through this universal education are still considered illiterate just because the little education they had does not even qualify for the simplest forms of employment in the formal sector.

Putting aside the adults that didn’t go to school, or those who had a little bit of education, but have now maneuvered and earned a living through the hardest struggles in Kampala capital city of Uganda, there is still a steadfast increase in the number of young children not attending school in Uganda, both in Kampala and other districts of the country.

The continuous rising levels of the illiteracy in Uganda are attributed to different reasons that you a point in every cause. But remember, if we are to fight to zero levels of illiteracy in Uganda, we should tackle the roots, the major causes, and below are the estimated main reasons for the high levels of illiteracy.

Poverty still stands as the major reason as to why the rates of illiteracy in Uganda rise higher each day. This has not just started recently, but even the old generation says that they failed to go to school just because of lack of funds. Even us the current generation nearly failed to complete studies still because of lack of tuition. This is the same cause that is affecting the little children today, most of them lack school fees. Just imagine if a family even fails to get what to eat in a day, can it afford the 150 dollars to pay school fees? It is simply impossible.

With this high rate of poverty in Uganda, some children have been stopped by their parents from going to school, some children got fed up of being chased for school fees all the time and being the ones who luck all the scholastic materials. Eventually they developed resentment for school, some are now the street kids we see daily and pass by, others joined marriage, perhaps some are the live examples of child labor in Uganda, and we all cannot tell where the world threw them.

Child violence has also led to an increase in the levels of illiteracy in Uganda. This could be child violence at home from parents and relatives who mistreat the children to the point of running away from homes where they have been attending schools. Still child violence in schools in form of heavy punishments, a lot of strokes over simple mistakes have stopped numerous children from attending school. Also the violence from fellow peers has highly demotivated many from going to school.

The primitive perception of most Ugandan parents. It is of no doubt that till now, most primitive Ugandan parents still think that educating a child is a wastage of money, especially the girl child. This has seen many of the young girls joining early marriages and early pregnancies just because they have been denied the right to education. But in this steady fast developing world, how will the illiterate girl live a just life?

This calls for immediate attention to the children of the nation, they need to be educated. Lets at least sponsor the poor children in Uganda. We can also donate scholastic materials and push a child back to school.

There is also need to sensitize masses of local people on the major causes of illiteracy an strategize on how we can best fight the high rates of illiteracy in Uganda.