Rukungiri district receives 25,000 face masks for learners

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rukungiri district has received 25,000 face masks for learners in candidate classes.

The face masks were delivered in fulfillment of a pledge made by the Ministry of Education to aid learners as classes resumed amidst coronavirus disease pandemic.

While handing over the face masks, Dan Kaguta the Resident District Commissioner Rukungiri said that each learner from primary, secondary schools and the tertiary institutions is expected to receive two face masks.

The masks will be distributed to 38 secondary schools, 184 primary schools and 24 higher institutions of learning both government-aided and private-owned.

Canon Wycliffe Twinomunjuni, the headteacher at Keshenyi Secondary school in Ruhinda sub-county said the delivery of the masks is timely since many parents could not afford to buy masks for their children.

He adds that much as some schools had provided face masks for the learners, they were not enough and its difficult for teachers to observe the standard operating procedures.

Dan Bahamire Ahimbisibwe, the headteacher at St. Paul Secondary School in Bugangari sub-county says that some learners had started borrowing masks from their fellow students.

Johnson Rutagirababo Kyarimpa, the headteacher at Rurgarma Primary School in Buyanja sub-county says that teachers have been facing hardships in trying to implement SOPs because some pupils lacked masks.

Last month, the Director Basic and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports Ismael Mulindwa said that government has procured 2.8 million masks to enable each candidate get two face masks.

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