For communities like most in Lyantonde, the past one and a half years have posed an even bigger threat to education for children in the primary and high school levels due to the fact that the education system vis-a-vis the economic situation is nowhere near equilibrium.
The closure and discontinuation of school because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has caused some negative impacts such as; students like those in our community, who have no online resources have had their position in school stalled for close to two years with no clear picture of how it will end. Since we have a number of child-led homes due to parental neglect, these children have been within risk of emotional, physical and sexual violence against them. For the young girls, they have further faced early pregnancies as a result of rape and sexual exploitation as they seek to fend for their families.
The framework that was set-up by the Ministry of Education and Sports for continued learning during the lockdown , aimed at ensuring that learners could use different modes for accessing learning material, parents being guided on their roles to enable learning, and learning being delivered through different mediums including print-and-study, radio, televisions and online. However, none of those come easy for a child in an unstable home without a radio, TV, or internet access. Needless to say, the print and study materials are left at school without possibility to print and distribute to learners due to little to no resource for free print.
For these children to have a fair chance at continuing their education while the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, we need to adequately provide all the necessary print it would take for every child to study. Perhaps, also take advantage of news print delivery channels to ensure every part of the country is covered. While we may depend on good will to make this happen, we are extremely thankful for every support coming into Lyantonde. We also implore the government and the Ministry of Education and Sports to lend a bigger hand in the effort.
Together, we can help the children get through this. God bless!