Access to Education for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Uganda: A Multi-District, Cross-Sectional Study Using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling from 2011 to 2013

OBJECTIVES: This study estimates the proportion of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) attending school in 89 districts of Uganda from 2011 - 2013 and investigates the factors influencing OVC access to education among this population. METHODS: This study used secondary survey data from OVCs aged 5 - 17 years, collected using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling in 87 Ugandan districts over a 3-year period (2011 - 2013). Estimates of OVC school attendance were determined for the yearly time periods. Logistic regression was used to investigate the factors influencing OVC access to education. RESULTS: 19,354 children aged 5-17 were included in the analysis. We estimated that 79.1% (95% CI: 78.5% - 79.7%) of OVCs attended school during the 3-year period. Logistic regression revealed the odds of attending school were lower among OVCs from Western (OR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.79 - 0.99) and Northern (OR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.56 - 0.73) regions compared to the Central region. Female OVCs had a significantly higher odds of attending school (OR 1.09; 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.17) compared to their male counterparts. When adjusting for all variables simultaneously, we found the odds of school attendance reduced by 12% between 2011 and 2012 among all OVCs (OR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81 - 0.97). CONCLUSION: Our findings reinforce the need to provide continuing support to OVC in Uganda, ensuring they have the opportunity to attain an education. The data indicate important regional and gender variation that needs to be considered for support strategies and in social policy. The results suggest the need for greater local empowerment to address the needs of OVCs. We recommend further research to understand why OVC access to education and attendance varies between regions and improvement of district level mapping of OVC access to education, and further study to understand the particular factors impacting the lower school attendance of male OVCs.