From school gate to grave? Untold story of unsafe school routes

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OPINION

By Linda Asaba

As dawn breaks across Kampala, Gulu, Mbale, and other towns in Uganda, thousands of children begin their daily journey to school, some walking, others riding boda bodas or cycling through traffic-choked roads. But for many, what should be a routine trip often turns into a life-threatening gamble.

In recent years, Uganda has recorded a worrying number of traffic accidents involving school-going children. The Uganda Police Traffic Report (2023) revealed that nearly 600 schoolchildren were either injured or killed on their way to or from school. These are not just statistics; they are young lives, full of dreams and promise, cut short or altered forever.

This public health and safety crisis has prompted long-overdue intervention. In April 2025, the Ministry of Works and Transport, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and partners from civil society, launched the Safe School Zone Guidelines. These aim to make areas around schools safer through designated crossing zones, reduced speed limits, visible signage, traffic calming measures like speed humps, and stronger enforcement of pedestrian-first policies.

This policy aligns directly with Sustainable Development Goal 3.6, which aims to halve global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030, and Goal 11, which envisions safe, inclusive, and sustainable cities. But implementation remains uneven. Many schools, especially in peri-urban and rural communities, remain outside the reach of these protections.

Children still cross dangerous junctions with no traffic lights. Zebra crossings are faded or ignored. Boda boda riders, often young people themselves, disregard school zones. Parents are left with no choice but to rely on unregulated, unsafe transport options. In some cases, school gates open directly onto highways.

We must ask: How have our roads become so hostile to our youngest citizens?

The reality beyond guidelines

For too long, road safety has been treated as an adult or urban issue. Rarely do we centre children or youth in this conversation, despite their daily exposure to danger.

The new Safe School Zone Guidelines must be backed by more than paper promises. Local governments must prioritise enforcement, while schools should integrate road safety into their life skills and civic education curricula. More importantly, we must nurture a culture of safety through community policing, youth-led road safety clubs, and partnerships with boda boda associations.

Youth at the centre of change

The United Nations Association of Uganda (UNAU) is actively working with schools, youth-led organisations, and local authorities to promote SDG-based advocacy, especially around safe cities (SDG 11), climate-conscious infrastructure, and youth empowerment (SDG 16.7: inclusive and participatory decision-making). Through Model UN simulations, school dialogues, and youth forums, young Ugandans are being equipped not just to understand these problems, but to lead solutions.

As part of UNAU’s broader initiative under the Pact for the Future, youth are being empowered to see road safety as part of a larger vision: a peaceful, green, and just Uganda. Safe school routes are not only about avoiding accidents; they’re about ensuring access to education (SDG 4), protecting children’s rights, and creating liveable, people-first cities.

A call to action

We need a coordinated, nationwide movement that boldly says “enough” to the silent epidemic of school route accidents.

We call on: Government agencies to fast-track the Safe School Zone rollout in all districts, Local councils to allocate resources for signage, bumps, and crossing guards, Traffic police to strictly enforce school zone speed limits especially during pick-up and drop-off hours, Schools and PTAs to actively educate students on safety and demand improvements, Youth clubs, student leaders, and media houses to run awareness campaigns that make safety “cool” and civic action viral.

It is unacceptable that a child should leave home for school and not return, simply because our roads failed them. Road safety is not a privilege. It is a right. Protecting children as they walk to school is a test of our values as a nation.

Let’s ensure that from the school gate, every child arrives safely, not in fear, not in silence, and certainly not in a coffin.

The writer is a program manager, UNA-Uganda