The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has directed the prime minister to lead the team from the ministry of education, health and the national taskforce to come up with dates and revised safe proposals for the reopening of learning institutions.
The directive follows a meeting that happened on Tuesday this week between President Museveni, ministries of education and health, and the Covid-19 national taskforce on the safe reopening of schools.
The meeting was intended to discuss the proposals of the safe reopening of learning institutions that were designed by the ministries of education and health with other key players in the education sector and their proposed reopening date of October 2021.
The presented proposals included the safe reopening of schools in a phased and staggered manner, Covid-19 vaccination for the population that interact with the children in schools, shortening of holidays and extension of school days to include Saturday, vaccinating teachers, prioritizing learners who had less time in school, strengthening the continuity of learning, reviewing the school curriculum to concentrate on core competences(like the literacy, numerous and English) and strengthening the Covid-19 surveillance system in schools.
According to the spokesperson for ministry of education Dr. Dennis Mugimba, the president was impressed by the proposals as they were presented, especially the issue of phased reopening and in a staggered manner.
As a way forward according to Dr. Mugimba, the president directed that the prime minister leads the team that is responsible for the safe reopening including the ministry of education, health and the covid-19 national task force to further discuss some key issues and come up with final modalities and the dates of reopening that will later be presented to the president for approval.
Mugimba notes that the prime minister is expected to convene a meeting next week to discuss the issues that were highlighted by the president and then come up with the dates of reopening after ensuring that the proposals in place safe guard the learners, teachers, non-teaching staff and also the people at home especially the elderly.
Dr. Mugimba says that President Museveni was mostly concerned on the issue of vaccinating the elderly group of people above the age of 50 years besides the teachers, support staff and the learners above 18 years, saying that if learners are to report back to school especially the day scholars, they may pose a big threat of infecting their elders at home.
Reports indicate that the vaccination exercise that is targeting the essential and vulnerable groups of people has seen 209,000 (38%) teachers vaccinated out of the targeted 550,000, then 401,000 (12%) elderly persons vaccinated out of the targeted 3.3 million.
Dr. Mugimba says although the education ministry leaves its target at 550,000 teachers, they are aware of the teachers who are abandoning the profession for other ventures.
He says the ministry is considering carrying out a census of teachers after the reopening.
He also notes that the ministry had come up with a tentative date for holding the selections and this was suggested to be in September 2021, however, following the same meeting they had with the president, they had to hold the process for new dates.
Mugimba explains that the selection dates for the senior one and five will also be communicated immediately, the final school calendar is announced next week.
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URN
Who tells you that Saturday can be a school day? Why not Sunday? I am an adventist and me and my children will not go to school on Saturday.
Don’t be selfish and myopic. We are talking about the education for our children, not worshiping. For your own information, Muslims have their worship on Fridays, and traditionalists do so on any day of the week. SO SHOULD EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN BE DONE AWAY WITH? Give to Ceaser what’s due to Caeser and to God what is due to God. The choice is yours
Agree 💯
Then the government has thought wisely otherwise young girls and boys are getting married at an early age
My friend am not an adventist but calling another person myopic because of their religion is not only myopic but foolish…
There’s no need to call him myopic and lessons can’t be held on Saturday because it’s a weekend
True
You’re a religious fundamentalist.
Saturday is not a day of work it’s a of worship for true followers of Messiah.
To u but to others it’s normal coz if some of us can even work transnight all week days , just relax after this covid issues the school calendar will get back to normal
Hope the reopening date will be announced.
I hope
Am seeing that the meeting was held on Tuesday but no exact date. We already know that our government thinks that this pandemic is here for a while not knowing that it’s here forever on top of the scientists who are in health but advising on education yet these are two different departments. Am this will be Impossible
It make no sense to extend school days to Saturday. Will the government Carter for Saturday lessons?
Teachers need time to do other manual work to supplement on their mega salaries.
You have been paid by the government when you were not working!!!
Mega means very big meagre means small, modest.
Your choice.
We don’t have money for backing the school Gore’s
Government should wait for next year and open .
We don’t earn monthly we wait for three solid month
This is a good move by His Excellency the president of Uganda M7.
Me as an individual, I am getting tired of staying at home doing nothing for months.
In my opinion, we should learn to leave with the fact that covid has come to stay,but the future of learners is at stake here,therefore my suggestion is that if possible, they should make all institutions day in that learners will study from schools within the community as they follow the Sops and to prevent a serious outbreak from boarding schools
If some one asks a question “why did they close schools?” These people are just playing there own games we cnt understand, they closed schools that there was corona, has it gone now? They shd leave evry thing to go back to normal running
He wh defines life for you will always determine how you live it. I think Uganda” our leaders’ lives are defined by COVID and wealth and so, their way of living is determined by COVID and how to get wealthier. They are even forgetting that they left Lodges and their hotels open.
They didn’t even have to sit and discuss about the reopening of these lodges.
It is so shameful that we are having fewer cases of COVID than any other country but we are still under a lockdown.
These people have children who attend the so- called international schools. These schools are open.
This is Uganda.
Can you imagine, these are the same people who started training nursery teachers who can handle children of 0-8 years but when it comes to recruiting teachers into the government schools, they take in primary teachers to handle kids of 6-7years. Primary teachers are trained to handle children of 9-13 years. No wonder the poor performance in UPE schools.
In my opinion, I suggest that schools should be reopened this month. Many of those Rich people have their children studying online . What about other people whose children can not afford paying for online studies.how many countries are in serious danger of COVID-19 but have the school open.many girls and boys are now doing things that have ruined their future just because of the long covid 19 holidays. Uganda please!!!! wake up.
Let primary schools do only 3subjects, i.e. Math, English and science. Then let secondary schools do 6 subjects. When things normalize the school system can go back to the old carriculum.
Then the government has thought wisely otherwise young girls and boys are getting married at an early age
All people who are in health sector are working so they can decide what to tell museveni knowing already their jobs are secure.now why should health ministry over dominate Education sector?
Dear president including saturday on study days will not solve the problem. We parents need to come to terms with facts that covid has changed everything. First and foremost to ensure that we dont close again due to third wave the following should be put in place:
No boarding section
No teacher should be allowed to teach without being vaccinated.any school that is found with unvaccinated staffs should be closed immidiately
No student should go to school with flue or cough.
Trust me . This will work
Well it’s good to reopen schools but government should also know that teachers in primary teaches sciences,pay for all essential things and will be exposed to COVID-19. So they should be given allowences.
Well, I would advice the government of Uganda to restrict movement of learners from one district to another district until the corona pandemic has been dealt with. The child should study in his or her district or sub county. Teachers should also be given risk allowances. Each school should not look at the volume of money they would get from the parent but accommodate the right population which is easy to enforce Standard Operating Procedure. Teachers who teach in many schools should stick to only one school or be given a separate room to avoid frequent contact. Teaching needs fresh mind, when Saturday is included, may make teachers become more exhausted specifically in a school where human resource is inadequate.
All will be appropriated thanks
I wish Uganda gov,t adopted the previous school calendar, reason this pandemic is something that we can do with as being cited by the world scientists.
Schools should open for our young ones to study, i don’t care whether studies shall be conducted for the whole week but all i want is to see our children in class. If Bangladesh has opened its schools yet covid originated from there, how about our Uganda. We should learn to live with covid knowing it has come to stay.
Government should reopen with immediate effect because covid has come to stay and we should learn to leave with it. Again am wondering as to why this fragenity of closing schools for all this period is in Uganda only for now!!! Kenya has more cases of covid than ug, Bangladeshi reopened amidst covid, lndia among other countries and so who are we that we cannot follow.
It is good government has decided to open schools once again. Mine is directly to His Excellence, President Museveni. Schools can actually re-open from nursery to the Highest Institutions of Learning if government ensures the following among other precautions:
1. Ensuring that all schools with a boarding section avail students with access to communication facilities to be able to communicate to their parents or guardians in the event of sickness or likely symptoms of Covid- 19. This is because schools did not want to disclose any information concerning their students contracting Covid -19 even when the schools did not have capacity to handle the sickness. This way any possible Covid 19 or other sickness can be immediately communicated to and addressed immediately by the parents or guardians of the child.
Phased opening is still going to drag the education system and the suggested dropping of certain subjects will be a national blander, who will want to employ the generation of “those children that skipped certain subjects and are half baked”. This will also affect the children’s confidence in the future and capacity to compete with others not only in Uganda but world over.
2. The persons who are at serious risk due to age or other comorbidities and living with learners can learn how to adjust, by appreciating that Covid 19 is here for as long as nobody knows. They can practice social distancing, wearing masks and learn to detect early signs of infection. Life has to go on and children should be allowed to continue their studies like its being done in other countries.
3. The other already existing SOPs are good enough and should be maintained, ie social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks.
Note: Most of the advisors of the president have their children studying either abroad, in International Schools or Online, and they may have little concern for the larger section of the Ugandans who do not have the same privileges and are loosing hope each passing day.
Our Government needs to prioritize the expansion of schools space to allow social distancing than any thing even as we we talk,schools and other institutions do not have enough space for learners,yet we capitalize on issues of SOPS,Please manage and do construction/create space for all learners to go once/than using money or funds for others things.
Patrick
What about the fees l had paid for my kids?
ugandan leaders lack thinkers,they only mind of of their stomachs, while leaving citizens suffering with poverty
What you are saying is true, you government please wake up?