Kaboha
School-going girls in Kabarole District are calling for urgent interventions, warning that high poverty and inability to pay school fees are driving them directly into early marriages and teenage pregnancies
This comes just weeks after a global report from UNESCO raised fresh concerns over how early motherhood is permanently sealing the fate of vulnerable female learners across Sub-Saharan Africa
In Kabarole, high cases of teenage pregnancy have been reported in Kicwamba, Karangura and Hakibale sub counties
It is reported that, parents are actively fueling child marriage rates by failing to report rape and defilement cases to authorities. Instead families secretly negotiate financial settlements with the boys or men who impregnate their daughters
In response, the Kicwamba sub-county councilor Francis Ahumuza Dauda announced a strict directive. LC1 and LC2 have been mandated to take legal action against any parents found covering up marriages involving underage girls
Kakyo Meshel a S.2 student at Christ Aid SS in Kabarole district acknowledges that several female learners from rural schools lack basic scholastic materials, sanitary pads and school fees which leave them exposed to sexual activities..
According to UNESCO’s 2026 Gender report, fewer than 5% of pregnant learners in Africa ever manage to step back into classroom after giving birth.