Analysis of Trends in Primary School Enrolment and Performance in selected rural Schools in North Eastern Uganda

Education is a key enabler and equalizer for livelihood opportunities and economic advancement of societies, and is indeed a basic human right. Unfortunately access to education is uneven, with rural communities especially in developing countries, having limited access to education. Hence this paper examines trends in enrolment and completion of primary school education in one rural district in Eastern Uganda. While there has been significant improvement in enrolment, the dropout rate is very high nationally (> 60%), but being especially high for rural schools as shown in this paper. To avoid further marginalisation of rural communities through education divide, policy interventions are needed to enhance retention of children in school with particular attention being placed on retention of the gild child. Establishment of education infrastructure in rural areas coupled with programs such as school feeding are needed. Necessary measures also need to be put in place to enhance access to digital learning in rural areas, as there is a big divide between rural and urban areas in accessing digital learning opportunities. Communities also need to be mobilised and sensitized to play a more active role in supporting and promoting education in their areas. Key words: Dropout, Eastern Uganda, Primary Schools