Many girls in Kole District, drop out of school because of COVID-19, in the recent past; and traditional gender sensibilities that mean educating the girl child is not a priority.

Kole District has over 178 schools, 52 nursery schools, 107 primary schools and 19 secondary schools. Acio Sharon Enon, a graduate teacher, yet she has failed to get employment in these Kole District schools.

Acio is a borne of Kole. Her ancestral village is Olaya in Akalo Sub-County in Kole County in Kole District. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Kampala International University.

Which begs the questions?

• Does Kole District need girls like Acio – graduated and unemployed – hanging around the villages?
• Where should girls like Acio be and doing what?
• How should Acio talk to girls like her, already at universities and institutions pursuing graduate studies in education?
• Is this a dead end? What need is there to graduate at all if this is how we end up?
• Acio is currently a shopkeeper. Is this a wasted opportunity, seeing as she is a graduate not practicing what she studied?
• How should education in Kole be structured to prepare communities to exploit people like this, like Acio?
• How are graduates like Acio not being wasted opportunities in the villages?
• What would prevent Acio from being a champion for women who have not had opportunities like hers?
• What opportunities exist for unemployed graduates like Acio to become champions for other women on the village?
• Do graduates like Acio deserve any special note in our villages?”

Asks Mr. Philip Luswata, CPAR Uganda Volunteer Expert Media Consultant.

Do join us in conversation by sharing your views via comment to this post and or sharing this post with a comment to your online platforms. We look forward to reading your views.

Acio is a beneficiary of CPAR Uganda “Mentoring young adults in Uganda into innovators” project. Learn more about her in this short video. Her profiled photo is of her her retail shop at Ireda Shamba Village in Lira District; which village she resides.