The School Return Policy Works Where Someone Follows Up
Girls are allowed back after childbirth. Whether they come back depends on childcare, fees and a teacher who notices.
By Sylvia Namutebi..Central Uganda.5 min read
Central Uganda. 12 July 2026.
MixedEducation
The policy is not ambiguous: a girl who has given birth may return to school. The gap sits between permission and attendance.
What decides it
Three things, according to district education officers: who minds the baby during school hours, whether the term's fees and requirements can be met. Whether a teacher tracks the absence in week two rather than term three.
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The ones who come back are almost always the ones somebody went to find.
Senior woman teacher, secondary school, central Uganda
Schools that keep a simple re-entry register report noticeably better completion than those relying on the policy alone.
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The policy travels further than the follow-up does
Uganda's re-entry policy for young mothers is well known among head teachers and increasingly among parents, but district education officers say awareness of the policy has outpaced the systems needed to make it work in practice, especially childcare arrangements and fee support during the term of return.
Some schools have begun informal arrangements, such as allowing a young mother to bring an infant to a designated room during lessons or coordinating with a relative for daytime childcare, but these remain ad hoc and dependent on an individual head teacher's initiative rather than a standard practice supported by the ministry.
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We have girls who want to finish senior four. What decides it is whether somebody is free to hold the baby in the mornings.
Deputy head teacher, secondary school, central Uganda
Sexual and reproductive health education delivered earlier in the school cycle is cited by district officials as the more durable long-term response, alongside the re-entry policy. This is becauseprevention reduces the number of girls who need re-entry support in the first place. Uptake of that curriculum component still varies by a lot between schools and districts.
Education officers say the schools worth studying are the ones that have kept completion rates high for successive cohorts of returning mothers. This is becausetheir practical arrangements, but informal, appear to be replicable at low cost elsewhere.
Evidence & documents
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