RUBIRIZI – The alarming rise in school dropouts in Rubirizi District has shaken the education sector, prompting authorities to arrest and charge parents whose children loiter in local trading centers during school hours.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The development was revealed by the Rubirizi District Education Officer (DEO), Biiru Steven, on Thursday, June 11th, 2026, during a heated Parents and Teachers General Meeting held at Mugyera Primary School in Katerera Town Council.
The engagement was convened to address a cascade of challenges threatening the region’s educational foundation, including early marriages, drug abuse, and a growing culture of absenteeism.
Biiru Steven blamed Rubirizi’s high number of school dropouts on lax parenting and a lack of discipline among the youth, announcing that local leaders, parish chiefs, and security agencies have been placed on high alert.
He stated that a number of students spend time loitering in trading centers, markets, or bars during class time, thus appealing to parents to nurture children with good morals to fight ignorance, corruption, poverty, theft, and illiteracy.
“We are seeing a lot of children in trading centers, markets, and bars during school hours. These children are dropping out of school because parents are not doing their job and the children lack discipline. All local leaders, parish chiefs, and security officers have been put on high alert to conduct regular patrols and arrest any student found wandering around,” Biiru said.
The DEO further cautioned the youth against the twin evils of early marriage and drug abuse, which he said both compromise child development and limit life opportunities, urging learners to stay focused on their long-term goals.
Mugyera Primary School Headteacher, Tumuhimbise Steven, urged parents to consider education as a direct investment in their family’s future and to prioritize their children’s regular school attendance for improved performance.
He added that parents need to work closely with school administrators to empower their children with high degrees of respect, love, and discipline so that they can grow into responsible individuals with a brighter future.
“Education is a direct investment in your family’s future. Parents must make sure their children go to school every day because education is not just a duty, it is an investment. Parents must also work closely with school leaders to teach and instill good morals in their children,” stated Tumuhimbise.
Latest statistics indicate that nearly 43 out of every 100 pupils in Uganda drop out before completing primary school, with girls affected more than boys: 46 percent of girls fail to finish P7, compared to 44 percent of boys.
Out of 7.6 million learners who start Primary One over a four-year period, only 3.1 million sit for their final primary exams, meaning that about 1.13 million children drop out every year, or nearly 22,000 every single week.
In secondary school, 30 percent of students drop out before completing, and the situation is even worse in Kampala, where only 10 percent of pupils who finish Primary Seven successfully transition to secondary education.
Sixty percent of households cite the high cost of schooling as the main reason children drop out, while poverty, child labor, early marriage, poor school conditions, and a lack of sanitary pads for girls continue to drive the crisis.
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