"The situation is dramatic!"

This makes the East African country the world's sad leader. This Monday, January 10, classes are finally scheduled to resume.

"The situation is dramatic: most students have not been to school for a total of two years. Especially children under the age of eight and pupils in remote regions had hardly any access to education!", says Lilian Ssengooba, responsible for program development at SOS Children's Villages in Uganda.

Instead of school: child labor, forced marriage and pregnancy

Ssengooba fears that numerous students nationwide will never resume their education. "Many young girls have now been married off by their families or they are pregnant, other children were forced to go to work to support their families," Ssengooba says. The children would mine gold in quarries or sell goods on the streets. Some also work as domestic servants in neighboring Kenya, he said. For Uganda and for each and every one of the young people, he says, this is a disaster.

Education crisis must be ended

The most important thing now, he says, is to actively support the return to school, including with government support programs. Ssengooba says, "Education is a human right! We need to make sure it is available to young people."

SOS Children's Villages wants to use campaigns to promote the resumption of education. In addition, we offer cooperation with the communities school-accompanying measures. In the last two years, we have already worked with teachers and parents to set up alternative education systems and initiatives by students for students in order to bridge the education crisis.