Constraints to educational opportunities of orphans

A community-based study from northern Uganda

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19440716
AutoresChristopher Oleke (University of Bergen, autor correspondente), Astrid Blystad (0000-0002-3199-4496, University of Bergen), Knut Fylkesnes (0000-0001-9469-2500, University of Bergen), James Tumwine (0000-0002-3422-7460, Makerere University), J K Tumwine
Ano2007
Volume19
Fascículo3
Páginas361-368
Data de publicação2007-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAIDS Care (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0954-0121 • E-ISSN: 1360-0451
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09540120600677987
PMID17453570
OpenAlexW1974567665
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas19
Referências citadas17

The objective of this article is to assess constraints on educational opportunities of orphans cared for within the extended family system in Lira district, northern Uganda. The data were collected through: review of school census records; ethnographic fieldwork; in-depth interviews with 21 community leaders, 45 heads of households caring for orphans and 35 orphans. Focus group discussions were held with men and women caring for orphans, community leaders and orphans. A household survey was conducted in 402 households caring for orphans. We found that very poor widows living on less than half a dollar per day head 48% of the households caring for orphans. The elderly heads of households were 3 times more likely to have all the children in their household in schools than the younger ones. Furthermore, the widowed and single heads of households were more likely to have all orphans in school than the married, and households that received external support offered better educational opportunities. Poverty, as indicated by lack of food while at school and heavy involvement of orphans in domestic labour, were identified as major constraints on orphans' schooling. There is an urgent need to support orphans' education in northern Uganda beyond the current Universal Primary Education efforts. The most vulnerable households need to be targeted, and the communities need to be sensitized to child labour, school meals and sex abuse

Census · Economic growth · Focus group · Geography · Population · Poverty · Single mothers · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology