Every morning at 5 a.m., Habibu Sanyu begins a journey that determines how her school day will unfold. The Senior Three student at Mpara Secondary School walks eight kilometres to school, often arriving late, tired, and missing the first lessons. Sanyu says the long walk has become a major challenge, affecting her concentration and ability to fully participate in class. She says the journey also exposes her to difficulties, including harsh weather conditions and unwanted attention from some men along the way.
For Wilson Businge, another learner at Mpara Secondary School, the five-kilometre walk to school also comes with its own challenges. He says he sometimes arrives late, tired, and struggles to concentrate in class because of the long journey he has to make back home after lessons.
The experiences of Sanyu and Businge reflect a wider challenge affecting learners in Kyegegwa District, where education officials say long distances to secondary schools are contributing to school dropout, poor attendance, and declining academic performance.
Grace Ampaire, the Kyegegwa District Education Officer in charge of Special Needs, says many learners abandon school because of the difficulties associated with travelling long distances every day. She says some sub-counties in the district do not have secondary schools, forcing learners to travel to neighbouring areas to access education. “Kyegegwa has only 10 secondary schools serving 19 sub-counties, leaving many learners with no option but to walk several kilometres every day to access education,” she said. Ampaire says only about 39 percent of learners complete primary education, while only 27 percent of those who enrol in Senior One complete Senior Four.
To reduce the burden, Cycling Out of Poverty Uganda (CooP-Uganda), in partnership with Enabel, has distributed 208 bicycles to learners in four secondary schools in Kyegegwa District under the WeLearn-WeTeach Bicycle Empowerment Programme. The beneficiary schools include Mpara Secondary School, Rwentuha Seed Secondary School, Kakabara Secondary School, and Kibuye Secondary School.Helen Kakungulu, the Project Coordinator at CooP-Uganda, says the intervention was informed by research that identified transport challenges as one of the barriers affecting school completion.She says the bicycles, given to 52 learners in each school, are intended to reduce travel time, improve attendance, and help learners stay in school.
Winnie Arinaitwe, the Headteacher of Mpara Secondary School, says learners who come from distant areas often miss morning lessons and struggle to keep up academically. She says girls are particularly affected because of safety concerns associated with travelling long distances.
Emmanuel Gumisiriza, a parent at Mpara Secondary School, says many parents have worried about children who leave home early and return late because of the long journeys. He welcomed the bicycle support, saying it would improve learners’ safety and ease transport challenges. Namakula Sarah, a parent from Mpara Sub-county, says many families could not afford bicycles despite the difficulties their children faced walking long distances to school. She says the donation gives parents hope that learners will arrive on time and improve their performance-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
