Authorities in the 4 districts of western Uganda that host the batwa community , are concerned about the high school dropout rates among members of the community
In Bundibugyo district ,out of the only two registered for Primary Leaving Examinations- PLE, but only one turned up for the exams last week.
The concern is deepened by the fact that only 36 batwa pupils attend school in the whole of Bunibugyo district.
In Kabale, Moses Tumwijukye, Education Officer Kabale, says that the district did not register any pupil from the Batwa community for the PLE.
Batwa, commonly known as pygmies, are an endangered group of people native in Kabale, Kanungu, Kisoro, Rubanda and Bundibugyo districts.
Sicola Tumwebaze, a strategy officer at Action for Batwa Empowerment Group (ABEG) says that out of the 220 Batwa household visited, 140 never attained formal education despite the introduction of Universal Primary and Secondary Education.
She says that the findings also indicated that school dropout rates among Batwa Population at both Primary and high school stood at 51.4% with Kisoro having the highest at 60.1%, followed by Rubanda 46.3%, Kabale 33.3% and Bundibugyo 27.8%.
She attributes the school drop out to the eviction from the protected areas of the wildlife parks coupled with high levels of poverty.