Education Minister Janet Museveni called on parents to take care of girls. “I will continue to remind parents to always be careful with their children not to get pregnant during the lockdown,” she said.
A teacher at a primary school in Luka District, 180 kilometers from the country’s capital Kampala, noted that since the COVID-19 pandemic imposed the lockdown, pregnant teens have become a common sight.
“Since the lockdown, children have stopped going to school, become vacant and misbehave, which has resulted in many girls becoming pregnant,” she added.
Joanna Kandwanaho, head of Uganda’s National Planning Service, said these pregnancies will be a burden on the country in the near future. She added that schools will soon open and children will return to a structured environment where they will be safe.
A recent study by the non-governmental organization Twaways, which promotes education, indicated that at least 80 percent. Ugandans are concerned about teenage pregnancy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A retired teacher called on the government to reopen schools and bring students back in. “Some of the girls got pregnant with their girlfriends, but most of them were used by men who worked in villages on sugar cane plantations,” he added.
