At least 25 percent of learners in Ugandan schools miss school due to violence, according to a report by a lecturer at Makerere University.
Eddy Joshua Walakira, a professor of Social Work, Children and Youth, says corporal punishment tops the list of forms of violence meted out at school.
‘Despite various interventions to end violence against children, the vice is still very much entrenched. A quarter or 25 percent of school children, or 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 6 boys, miss school due to violence,’ Mr Walakira said.
‘The most common form of violence is corporal punishment, followed by emotional violence. Sexual violence is not widespread, but mostly it affects girls, although some boys are also victimised. There is also a lot of bullying.’
Mr Walakira’s report came during a two-day National Good School Symposium organised by Raising Voices from June 30 to July 1, 2026. The symposium was held under the theme, ‘Together creating good schools where every child can thrive.’
According to Prof Walakira, violence within the school environment affects both boys and girls and is mainly triggered by teachers obsessed with good grades, followed by some students.
‘Violence is mostly from teachers within the school system, but peer-to-peer violence is also common,’ he added.
‘The way forward is to improve the school culture to do away with the belief that children can’t perform well without being caned.’
He explained that violence against children affects their academic performance and general growth, emphasising the need to prevent the vice effectively to promote a violence-free school environment.
According to him, sensitising teachers and learners and reactivating measures to punish the perpetrators of violence could help solve the problem at hand.
He advised schools to embrace positive discipline to substitute violent corrective measures.
Prof Walakira’s call is for teachers to strive to find out the cause of a child’s poor performance, so that necessary support can be rendered.
‘Find out why the child is performing poorly. It could be that the teaching is not good, or the student comes to school when they are hungry, or the learning environment is not conducive. There could be a whole range of factors,’ he explained.
In response, the Minister of State for Primary Education, Ms Phyllis Chemutai, acknowledged that violence against children remains an issue of concern.
‘Recently, a teacher boxed a student to death. Rape and sexual harassment still exist,’ he said.
‘My prayer is that the teachers respect their code of conduct and respect girls. Their work is to teach, not to rape or harass the learners. During my school days, some teachers could send girls to take books to their homes and end up abusing them sexually. The question is, how do we build a culture where violence is rejected even when no one is watching?’
Mr Hassan Mulusi, a technical advisor on violence against children at Raising Voices organisation, asked educationists to be intentional in ending violence against children.
‘Government has made commitments to prevent violence against children in schools, civil society has interventions in schools, and we would like to share how those interventions are impacting a child. The learners, too, have a role to play in ending violence,’ he said.
Mr Mulusi noted that the good school tool kits that Raising Voice developed and distributed to about 2500 primary and secondary schools in a bid to end the issue at hand.
‘The kits have empowered learners with information that encourages them to speak out in case they are confronted with violence among others,’ he said.
UNICEF report
A recent United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report mirrors Mr Walakira’s findings, showing that most children in Uganda have experienced physical violence that threatens and halts their holistic and positive development – 59 per cent of girls and 68 per cent of boys.
Mr Mondo Kyateeka, assistant Commissioner for Youth and Children’s Affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said it is the responsibility of everybody to ensure that children are safe, thrive, learn, and progress through school.
‘All of us must play our part. Things don’t just happen, but they are made to happen. We must be the architects of a non -violent ecosystem that will support children to stay in school,’ he said while wondering why only about 800,000 children complete the primary school level cycle in a country where 2 million babies are born annually.
‘You need to ask District Education Officers, school inspectors, the teachers, teachers, and parents, are we being accountable?’ he questioned.
Ms Blessing Nahurira, S6, St Joseph’s Secondary School Nkoni, Lwengo district, says a good school goes beyond having good buildings and large compounds, but promotes a conducive environment where students are given platforms to share their ideas and concerns.
Violence-free environment
Doreen Kemigisa of Tooro High School in Fort Portal City says a good school is violence-free and embraces positive discipline.
Child rights in Uganda are primarily protected by the 1995 Constitution, the Children Act, and key regional and international treaties.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Uganda ratified in 1990, commits to protecting children’s rights to survival, development, protection, and participation, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).