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Message: [QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 49251, member: 636"] Students from eleven schools gathered for a heated debate competition about teenage pregnancy and gender equality on Thursday. The event took place at Kayunga Secondary School as part of activities leading up to World Population Day. UNFPA Uganda teamed up with the National Planning Authority and Naguru Teenage Centre to organize the competition. Young people tackled tough topics like population growth and harmful traditional practices. The debate aimed to educate students about sexual health and rights. Judith Mutabazi from the National Planning Authority stressed how important healthy and educated populations are for development. She pointed out that Uganda struggles with high teenage pregnancy rates and school dropouts. The country wants every child to complete eleven years of schooling. Officials hope to push that target up to thirteen years for university education. These goals face major challenges from early marriages and pregnancies. Student debaters spoke passionately about youth roles in fighting harmful practices. Sasa Lydia argued that young people must challenge outdated beliefs about early marriage. She said girls should focus on education instead of getting married at eighteen. Miriam Comfort talked about gender equality and how it helps unlock women's potential. She praised Uganda for making progress with female leaders and youth representatives in parliament. Kayunga District reports strong education completion rates with 93.9 percent finishing primary school and 82.9 percent completing secondary school. District Education Officer Dan Buwale wants balanced education for both boys and girls. The nationwide teenage pregnancy rate has stayed stuck at 24 percent for ten years. Officials plan major World Population Day celebrations on July 11th with the president attending. [/QUOTE]

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