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Schools reopening date set to be decided today
Pupils attend a class at Spire Road Primary School in Jinja on March 1. Sources say the reopening of schools could be anywhere between September and October. PHOTO / FILE
What you need to know:
- The reopening of schools has been tied to sufficient vaccination of teachers.
Technocrats from the Education and Health ministries as well as teachers’ associations will meet today to consider the proposed dates for reopening of schools to all learners across the country.
Sources, who preferred anonymity in order to speak freely, told this newspaper that the Education ministry wants schools to reopen in a phased manner next month (September). The State minister of Primary Education, Dr Joyce Moriku Kaducu, confirmed that the reopening could be anywhere between September and October.
“We are hoping that by September to October, the infection rates could be sustained and we will discuss which class we start with,” Dr Kaducu said yesterday in a telephone interview.
The Education ministry permanent secretary, Ms Ketty Lamaro, in an August 27 letter invited district and municipal education officers plus inspectors of schools to a consultative meeting.
The meeting will, the letter adds, consider “the government’s proposal for safe reopening of education institutions for completion of 2020 academic year and progression of learners to the next level.”
Invited technocrats will attend the meeting virtually on Zoom. Only top Education ministry officials will attend physically.
Whereas some sources in the ministry of Education have indicated that the schools might be reopened on September 21, Ms Lamaro was not committal when pressed to offer a date yesterday. She said challenges of vaccinating teachers abound. “I do not want to be conclusive on the issue of dates because they might change since the targeted teachers have not been vaccinated,” Ms Lamaro said, adding, “[Today’s] meeting will come up with a memo with tentative dates, which we shall send to the Cabinet for approval.”
According to Ms Lamaro, once they hit 65 per cent of vaccinated teachers, schools will be safe for reopening.
Government closed institutions of learning for the second time in June when President Museveni instituted a second lockdown following a surge in Covid-19 cases. Following the lifting of the lockdown, only medical schools were cleared to reopen.
The President said reopening for other learners would be decided after sufficient vaccination of teachers and students above 18 years has been achieved. To date, at least 209,336 teachers have been jabbed once. A further 74,310 of the 550,000 teachers are fully vaccinated.
Slow vaccination
But teachers’ associations say the decentralisation is slow.
“I haven’t seen the proposals by the government on the reopening of schools. I hope these proposals will be presented before us and we shall also make an output,” said Mr Filbert Baguma, the executive secretary of Uganda National Teachers Union.
“If the dates and proposals are favourable, we shall approve them,” he added.
Mr Baguma, however, challenged the Health and Education ministries to ensure that all the identified schools by various districts have vaccines to ensure that teachers are vaccinated.
The ministry of Education last week handed over a list of schools from 131 districts that will act as vaccination centres. The Ministry of Health is expected to distribute vaccines to these schools this week.
Dr Kaducu said they are optimistic that teachers will be vaccinated within two weeks.
The condition
The President last month said reopening for other learners would be decided after sufficient vaccination of teachers and students above 18 years has been achieved. To date, at least 209,336 teachers have been jabbed once. A further 74,310 of the 550,000 teachers are fully vaccinated.
