Rayan Efendi Intern from New Zealand – Gender-based violence advocacy officer
PLATFORM for the NEEDY (PLANE)
It is globally known that education is one of the most important components in eliminating poverty. However, in Uganda, many children are unable to complete their schooling, nor do they have the competencies needed to do well outside of school.
When we look at this graph by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, we can see a significant decline in the number of students attending school between primary, secondary, and tertiary. In Uganda, only 1 in 4 children who begin primary school, make it to secondary school. Furthermore, education at the secondary level becomes inaccessible to adolescents due the widespread issues of gender-based violence, poverty, teenage pregnancies and early marriages.
Many schools in Uganda lack proper hygiene, educational tools, and facilities to encourage students to stay.
With the largest youth population in the world, 60% of Uganda’s population are minors. 15% of which are orphans. International research has time again shown that educated individuals are expected to face better outcomes in all aspects of their lives.
Uganda’s orphan emergency is one that uncovers the manner in which income inconsistencies influence the number of orphans in the country. The quantity of unregulated orphanages has shown the manners by which children and families are exploited by voluntourists where no background checks have been required for the individuals to interact with the orphans. At PLANE, our team is educated in providing care and support to orphans, and we offer the same education to our ambassadors and volunteers. Furthermore, we take a holistic approach in educating our youth, especially our orphaned youth. Working alongside communities, we identify and tackle the root causes of poverty and create sustainable change for the child to flourish.
With your contribution, you can help PLATFORM for the NEEDY achieve the following in the
area of educating our youth:
●$3 buy pads for a girl for one term to enable her to remain in school
● $25 buys uniforms, shoes, and exercise books for a primary child.
● $20 sends a child to a rural private primary school.
● $15 sends a child to a rural government primary school
● $25 sends a child to an urban government-aided primary school
● $100 sends a child a better urban private primary school
● $45 provides lunch for a child for a term of 3 months.
● $48 sends a child to a government-aided secondary on the day program
● $70 sends a child to a better urban private secondary school on a day program
● $150 sends a child to a moderate private secondary school
● $200 takes a child to a better government-aided secondary school
● $10 can buy milk and other nutritious meals for babies of girls who returned to school
after delivering.
