On October 11, 2023, the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Ms. Sarah Mateke, addressed the media in Kampala, highlighting the importance of increasing female enrollment in higher education. This call for action coincided with the International Day for the Girl Child, observed under the theme “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership and Wellbeing.”
While primary education in Uganda has achieved gender parity in enrollment, the Minister emphasized the need to reduce the dropout rates among girls at all levels of education. Despite an overall increase in children’s enrollment at primary and secondary levels, the rate of achievement and completion for girls remains lower than that of boys.
According to data from the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), the number of male candidates registering for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) has consistently exceeded that of female candidates in recent academic years. For example, in 2022, out of 96,557 UACE candidates, only 40,219 were females, while 56,023 were males. This trend was also evident in 2020 when over 13,000 more boys sat for the same exams compared to girls.
Minister Mateke emphasized that addressing disparities in education completion between boys and girls requires efforts to tackle high levels of violence and harmful social norms affecting girls’ opportunities for quality education. She called for a focus on preventing violence and crimes against girls, highlighting the importance of comprehensive social behavior change communication to prevent HIV among both in-school and out-of-school girls and boys.
She commended President Yoweri Museveni for the Presidential Youth Skilling Programme, which is providing opportunities for girls across the country. This program recently graduated over 16,000 youths and aims to support girls’ leadership aspirations and promote female role models and mentors.