Sports competitions had been an important part of after school activities. This stopped in 2000 but has just been reorganized in 2009. There are after-school activities such as debates and religious groups. At most schools (excluding some public schools), students take part in school maintenance or tasks such as gathering firewood for the school kitchen, grounds maintenance and tending school crops.
Lack of a proper study environment at home, their inability to master the English language, poor nutrition/health and other economic related issues are the biggest obstacles students must overcome. It has also been reported that mass fainting, usually due to lack of a lunch period or lack of easily available drinking water, is commonplace among schoolgirls, especially at girls' secondary schools.