Kampala — A REPORT funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recommended the extension of universal education to O'Level to minimise the rate of school dropout and child labour.

The research was conducted by the Makerere University Social Sciences Department and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Speaking at the launch of the report at Bativa Hotel in Wandegeya recently, Eddy Walakira, the principal investigator, said more boys than girls worked as child labourers.

The study, carried out on over 400 street and household children in Bushenyi, Kampala, Kasese and Tororo, said 97.5% of the children aged 5-17 years worked as child labourers in urban areas.

It said 88% of them were school drop-outs and 61% were orphans.

Walakira, who is also a Makerere University lecturer, said 45% of the child labourers said they worked to earn a living.

He said many children, especially girls, risked contracting HIV/AIDS as they also worked as prostitutes.