Uganda, like many sub-Saharan African countries, faces major challenges in providing quality and accessible basic education to children and adolescents. Poor education affects health awareness and respect for the rights of children, women and people with disease.
Only 10% of the children between 3 and 5 years of age are enrolled in pre-primary education. This means that out of 100 children, 90 are not involved in any educational program.
Many children do not complete their schooling: only 1 in 4 children who start primary school make it to secondary school. Less than half (40 percent) of students are literate at the end of primary school. Children with disabilities are largely excluded from formal schooling because of shortages of special needs teachers and facilities.
Secondary education is still inaccessible to most adolescents: early marriage, teenage pregnancy, abuse at schools and school fees keep many teens, especially girls, out of secondary schools.
24 % of Ugandan children have experienced sexual abuse in schools.