Supporting Students to Stay in School.
Praise is an eleven-year-old girl. She is currently in Primary Seven (P.7) and preparing for her Primary Leaving Examinations. She comes from a family of nine children and has faced significant challenges in accessing and continuing her education. In 2015, Praise was neglected by her father, leaving her mother as the primary caregiver and sole provider for the family.
Despite the financial difficulties, her mother has worked hard to keep Praise and her eight siblings in school. However, meeting the educational needs of all nine children has become increasingly difficult due to the family’s limited financial resources. Praise is determined to continue her education and has remained committed to her studies despite the challenges she has faced. Praise dreams of being a television presenter. M-LISADA’s Girls Education Campaign is helping Praise finish Primary School.
– Praise is an 11-year-old beneficiary of M-LISADA’s Girls Education Campaign.
The Struggle To Stay in School
For many children in Uganda, enrolling in school is only the first step in a challenging journey. Staying in school is an even bigger battle. When the final school term begins, many families breathe a sigh of relief mixed with some pride. Their child is on course to finish the school year. They’ve overcome numerous obstacles and reached a point they weren’t always sure they would. All their hard work and sacrifices to keep their children in school have paid off. This is no easy accomplishment.
- According to UNICEF, which cites Uganda’s 2024 education sector data, an astounding 43 out of every 100 pupils drop out before finishing primary school. This means only 57% of children who have been enrolled in primary school complete the education cycle.
- According to Uganda’s 2024 National Population and Housing Census, a further 8.9% or about 1 in 11 children of primary-school age had never attended school.
Rising costs in Secondary/high school, along with greater life challenges and family needs, create even greater barriers.
UNESCO’s Uganda: Trends in Completion Rates by Education Level and Gender, published in December 2025 put lower-secondary (Secondary Senior 1 to Secondary Senior 4) completion at approximately 35.8% in 2024:
- Girls: 32.5%
- Boys: 39.1%
- Overall: 35.8%
For upper secondary (Secondary Senior 5 to Secondary Senior 6), the estimated completion rate was only 20.3%:
- Girls: 20.3%
- Boys: 20.4%
- Overall: 20.3%..
A 2025/26 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) report shows that the cost of education is the largest reported reason for dropping out.
- 52% of primary-age dropouts
- 45% of secondary-age dropouts cited high cost in 2024/25.
Without M-LISADA’s comprehensive Educational Sponsorship, and support, the vast majority of the 140+ vulnerable children in our education program would drop out before finishing their current education cycle.
Girls Education
Girls actually have a slightly higher primary completion rate than boys.
- In 2025, 52.4% of primary school candidates who registered for their final exams were girls. In secondary school, however, this situation reverses.
UNICEF’s 2025 Uganda education analysis reports that
- 69% of adolescent girls have never attended secondary school.
UNESCO notes that factors such as child marriage and early childbearing contribute to girls’ greater risk of leaving school during secondary education.
- Uganda has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world. Nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 (24%) has already begun childbearing, according to the 2022 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey.
- UNICEF’s 2024 Uganda profile reports that 33% of women aged 20 to 24 were married or in a union before their 18th birthday.
- UNICEF estimates that approximately 5.5 million girls and women in Uganda were married before age 18.
Candidate Students
The start of the final term of school is also a thrilling and nerve-racking time for “Candidate” students who are about to finish an education certificate cycle. These education cycles include Primary School, Lower Secondary School, and Upper Secondary School. To complete an education cycle and receive an important education certificate, candidate students must take and pass national exams. These national exams include the Primary Leaving Exam, O-Level, and A-Level exams.
The whole candidate school year is essentially dedicated to preparing for these seismic exams. The last two terms, especially, are filled with mock exams and other preparation exercises. Candidate students pour all their time, energy, and determination into preparing for these demanding and life-shaping examinations.
This year, M-LISADA has 17 Candidate Students.
- 14 (7 girls / 7 boys) are at M-LISADA Passion Primary Boarding School. This brings the number of students who will complete their primary education at Passion School to 64 in the last few years.
- 1 female Secondary Senior 4 Candidate Student.
- 2 (1 female / 1 male) Secondary Senior 6 Candidate Students.
M-LISADA'S Girls Education Campaign
Against this glaring reality and backdrop of vulnerability, M LISADA’s Girls’ Education Campaign culminated with the start of the 3rd term. At this critical juncture, our campaign focused on supporting primary school girl candidates. Every year, thousands of students who spent years persevering and fighting to stay in school stumble at the finish line. For reasons mostly related to education costs, they don’t end up sitting for their exams. This heartbreaking scenario induces further anxiety among candidate students and their parents/guardians who face a desperate scramble to pay examination registration fees and clear any remaining school fee balances.
In total, M-LISADA’s campaign supported 30 vulnerable girl candidate students in 10 different schools. Our education support campaign provided the following:
- School and examination registration fees
- Essential scholastic and menstrual hygiene materials to help address additional barriers that can affect girls’ ability to stay in school and continue their education.
The campaign beneficiaries consisted of
- 29 Primary 7 Girl Candidate Students.
- 1 Secondary Senior 4 Candidate Student.
- 10 different schools were included in the campaign. These schools included 6 schools in Luwero, 2 in Mukono, and one each in Kalangala Island and Kampala.
All these candidate students have endured and overcome tremendous setbacks and difficulties in their educational journey. 90% of the girls supported in the campaign owed at least 1 term’s school fees. All of them needed essential school supplies.
Keeping Students in School
Justine was born in 2011. She has faced significant challenges in her education and family life. She lost her father when she was still very young, leaving her mother to care for her and her siblings with limited support. After her father’s death, Justine’s mother struggled to provide for the family. She received little support from relatives, making it difficult for her to meet the children’s basic needs, including education.
When Justine reached Primary Seven, her mother could no longer afford the school fees and was forced to tell her to stop attending school. This was a painful setback for Justine, especially as she was approaching a critical stage in her education. M-LISADA’s support for her school fees has enabled Justine to remain in school and complete her education.
– Justine, a 15-year-old beneficiary of M-LISADA’s Girls Education Campaign.
These testaments represent not only the girls our campaign supported; they also reflect the shared stories of millions of children in Primary School.
They are the stories of the vulnerable children that M-LISADA protects, heals, empowers, and supports through music, life skills, and education.
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