Africa-Press – Uganda. At least 2,000 school dropouts in Oyam and Amolatar districts will have access to good informal education courtesy of a new education programme.
The project dubbed “Transitioning Youth to Sustainable Livelihoods” aims at offering skills to school dropouts, which they can use for self-employment.
The three-year intervention is implemented by Action for Child Social and Economic Transformation (ACSET), an indigenous national NGO, in partnership with Swiss Academy for Development.
One of the beneficiaries, Nancy Acheng, 17, of Oyubu Village, Namasale Sub-county in Amolatar District, dropped out in Primary Seven in 2020 because of her inability to raise fees.
The orphaned girl sat for PLE at Olyaka Primary School, Namasale, and scored Aggregate 29.
Her father, Tonny Atwii, died after a long illness in 2017, while her mother, Betty Abwo, died in 2022.
Another girl, Bridget Ekit, 17, of Abalu Trading Centre, Myene Sub-county in Oyam District dropped out of school in 2019. She was a Primary Six pupil at Cornerstone Junior School, also in Myene.
“I dropped out of school because I wanted to join a vocational school where I can study for a few months and begin making some money to support my family,” she said.
Today, she is among 20 school dropouts who are back to school at Skills for All Vocational Training Institute (S4A VTI) in Oyam Town Council due to the above intervention.
At this institution, Ekit, Acheng and her colleagues are trained in vocational skills and are helped to build self-confidence.
Mr Bruno Sserunkuma Akejo, the executive director of ACSET Uganda, said their intervention is looking at addressing key challenges facing youth in Amolatar and Oyam districts.
“We are aware that due to poverty, there are many school dropouts and many youth are back home. So, we are looking at this project as a key pillar to bringing at least sustainable livelihood to youth in a way that we give them skills that they can use for self-employment or to be employed with another company,” Mr Akejo said last week.
Under the project, the beneficiaries will be engaged along agriculture value chains so that they can gain their self-employment.
“At the end, we want to see a youth whose life is transformed, who can make decisions; youth who can afford anything that they want; can maintain themselves, can buy what they want, can look into the future and plan appropriately,” he said.
Ms Oliver Adoch, the Community Development Officer (CDO) of Namasale Sub-county in Amolatar District, thanked the partners for the intervention.
She said the project will send back to school young people who are at home because of their parents’ inability to sponsor their education.
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