Kampala — WHEN Prof. Timothy Wangusa, the presidential adviser on literary affairs, was a little boy, he used to walk 500 metres, everyday to Nambale Pre-Primary School. Wangusa became a literature lecturer and professor at Makerere University and Mukono Christian University, respectively for over 40 years.

At school, Wangusa studied in a grass-thatched classroom and sat on its dusty floor because they could not afford seats. There were only three girls in his class, but even then, the few barely made it beyond primary school - their performance was very poor.

This disadvantageous situation to girls was repeated in all the schools in Bugisu, a region in eastern Uganda comprising the districts of Manafwa, Mbale, Bududa and Sironko.

"Most parents thought of girls as a source of income. They married them off early to get bride price and many were forced to stay at home to do domestic work," Wangusa recalls.

The situation persists

Although the number of girls has increased at Makhakhala Primary in Manafwa, their performance remains poor. Out of 50 pupils who registered for Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) at the beginning of 2008, 35 were girls and 15 boys. By the time they sat for PLE, four girls had dropped out. All the 31 girls who sat failed and the best boy passed in grade two.

Agathe Muyange, the headmistress of Makhakhala, says: "For the last six years, 90 girls have dropped out to get married."

Over the last 10 years, Nambale Primary School in Manafwa has not produced any girl to any profession because they drop out after P.7.

The headmaster, George Wolumeri, says out of the 42 pupils who registered for PLE in 2009, 20 were girls. By the time they did PLE, four had dropped out and of the remaining 16, one girl scored third grade and 15 failed completely and later all got married.

At Kikwetsi Primary in Manafwa, 10 girls have dropped out of P7 this year. The headmaster, Frederick Mandu, says out of 100 girls who join Primary one, less than 20 complete Primary Seven.

Poor education standards

Zadok Mudangi, the Manafwa district education officer, says: "Overall, education in Bugisu region and Manafwa in particular is not good. Both boys and girls perform poorly."

During the 2008 PLE, Bugisu had only 371 out of 22,317 PLE candidates passing in division one while 5,016 candidates failed, representing a national failure rate of 23%.

Overall, only 100 girls in Bugisu passed in Division One compared to the 271 boys. While 2,000 boys failed, more than 3,016 girls failed in the 2008 PLE.

While the overall enrolment ratio of boys to girls in primary schools is the same at 1:1, the completion ratio of girls at PLE in Bugisu stands at 1 compared to the national ration of 5.

Education experts blame the teachers, pupils and the parents for the poor performance. Mudangi says the teachers are always absent while parents are failing the girls. "Many parents here still think a girl's place is in the home. Young girls are dropping out to get married at an alarming rate," he says.

"Recently, a 14-year-old girl was married off for three cows. I intervened, but the community threatened me. I referred the case to the local council, which did not help," Mudangi says.

John Massette, the vice-chairman of Bukusu sub-county, acknowledged the problem and said parents were marrying off their girls in secrecy due to many factors.

"There is widespread poverty and ignorance here. People are selling their girls to overcome poverty. The parents connive with the men who give them bride-price," Massette says.

"Unfortunately, there are no programmes to reverse poverty, hunger and illiteracy. The Government has tried but we request the civil society to help," he adds.

There is hope

A group of Bamasaaba professionals from different sectors have formed Elgon Education Foundation (EEF), an indigenous, rural-based and community focused educational institution aimed at reversing the bleak academic record of Bugisu children.

EEF has given the first priority to girls' education, through the Bakhaana Bamasaaba Girls' Education Project. Their idea is to start with the education of the girl-child, first by sensitising the community to understand the value of education.

Founded in 2009, EEF is led by Prof. Wangusa. He says that he was challenged to take part in forming EEF because of the poor education standards in Bugisu. "I am a Mumasaaba educated a long time ago. However, the education standards in Bugisu have fallen tremendously and the school structures are poor. The children still sit on the floor and very few girls are retained in school. The Government has done its best, but we also need to play our part," he explains.

He says: "We shall use educated girls as role models, visit communities to sensitise them on the importance of girls' education."

"EEF has over 200 well-educated and employed Bamasaaba women. These mentor the girls through training workshops," he says.

He adds that the women role models will also do career and health counselling. "We did research and discovered that girls face health problems. When a girl begins menstruation, they are not taught at home how to manage it. The role models will teach them and also distribute sanitary towels."

Paul Kalamya, the project coordinator, says they will identify 10 needy girls from schools in Bugisu, who have performed well at PLE, starting with those of 2009, to benefit from scholarships to enable them complete O'level.

"The criteria for selecting the girls will include the community and women role models," he adds.

The first group of girls will be sponsored in 2010, courtesy of donations and grants from NGOs, fundraising and offers from well-wishers, and income from community-based research, art work and other activities.

"We shall avoid competition because we are providing a service to the community and not making profits," Wangusa adds.

The project will be launched at two dinners organised first at Kati Kati restaurant in Kampala on December 3, 2009 at 5:00pm and the second at Mount Elgon Hotel in Mbale on December 10, 2009 at 1:00pm.