This article was first published in the New Vision on January 20, 2021
By Conan Businge
Re-opening of schools for lower classes, whose learners were sent home in March last year, may take longer since there seems to be no easy way out.
As schools recalled students in candidate classes on Monday and Tuesday, many parents were still puzzled about when the lower classes would resume studies.
However, all reports and experts’ views from the Government indicate that the recall of learners in lower classes will, at the earliest, be in April unless the Government gets a quicker solution to this puzzle.
President Yoweri Museveni, in his interview with New Vision last week, said schools will only re-open for the lower classes after the country has obtained a vaccine for COVID-19.
His remarks came days after the inspectors who had been deployed by the education ministry filed a report with their seniors, indicating that it was complex to re-open the schools, based on the prevailing standard operating procedures (SOPs).
A team of inspectors concluded in their report that it is impossible to re-open schools for lower classes under the current SOPs. The inspectors say with the standard spacing of two metres, only 33% of the learners can be accommodated in most schools.
The health ministry approved a distance of two metres between individuals alongside other measures, including wearing face masks and constant washing of hands.
Vaccine For March/April
Experts and the Government say there are already indications that the country will be able to import the vaccine, but not earlier than March this year.
The health ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Diana Atwiine, says the Government has already applied for the vaccine from GAVI.
Much as she does not commit herself as to when the drugs might be in the country, Atwine says the earliest possible time may be in March or April.
Dr Andrew Kambugu, an infectious diseases specialist, says: “Based on estimates from the health ministry, we may get the vaccine in April this year.”
Kambugu is also the executive director of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
He says when the vaccine is obtained by Uganda, the other issue “will be about determining the priority population to start with in the vaccination process”.
Complicated Situation
In their report, the education ministry’s inspectors say there is no easy way to re-open schools without compromising the SOPs set by the Government.
Based on their report, the education ministry’s permanent secretary, Alex Kakooza, says: “Under the recommended distance of two meters from one learner to another, most schools would only accommodate one-third of the learners. Most classrooms use three-seater desks. If each learner is using a desk alone, then only 33% of a school would be catered for in the classrooms.”
He also says the situation is more challenging in boarding schools, if single beds are maintained at a distance of two metres apart. In this case, the dormitories would accommodate less than 50% of the original capacity.
However, Kakooza says the business, technical and vocational institutions were found to have enough space, even with the recommended SOPs in place.
The inspectors, in their proposal, based on excerpts of the report seen by New Vision, recommend that schools can only re-open if the entire country gets into the double shift system of education, or only if the sub-candidates (Primary Six, Senior Three and Senior Five) are allowed to return to school.
The third option is that students show up at school on different days of the week, much as inspectors hasten to add: “This would be, however, complicated by a religious factor of learners from some faiths, who may not be ready to attend classes on certain days.”
Under the double shift system, some of the students would study between 8:00am-12:40pm and the second shift would move in at 1:00pm-5:40pm.
However, one of the directors in a high enrollment private secondary school in the Kampala says the double-shift system, or even studying on different days, would also be impossible.
“So where shall these students in the boarding section stay? We cannot and neither can the Government construct dormitories overnight to accommodate all of them,” he says.
Way Forward
The director for basic and secondary education, Haji Ismael Mulindwa, says the COVID-19 task force plans to meet this week and plan for a way forward on the re-opening of schools.
“We are not yet decided on how the re-opening will be done. However, we will come up with technical recommendations to the Government, which will help it to make a decision on when the schools can re-open for lower classes,” he explains.
The state minister for higher education, Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, says the Government is determined to re-open the schools once they are assured of the children’s safety.
“We are all interested in ensuring that the schools are fully opened as soon as possible. But as President Yoweri Museveni recently explained, the safety of the children and teachers should be of great importance. We do not want to lose our teachers and children to COVID-19 by opening without a good way of securing them. We must ensure there are safe ways for all children and teachers to keep at school,” he says.
Muyingo adds that the Government has been successful with the protection of candidates at school against COVID-19.
“However, this was done under strict adherence to the SOPs as guided by the Government and the good planning of the education ministry,” Muyingo says.
He urged parents to remain patient “as the Government devises a way out of this situation”.
What Others Say
Filbert Baguma, the Uganda National Teachers Association general secretary, says the Government should allow different schools to try out the proposed measures as advised by the technical team of inspectors.
“The one size-fits-all measure will not work for all schools.
“There are different measures which can work in different schools and this is what the Government should try out,” he says.
Baguma adds: “It is worrying to keep children at home for over one year. We may have a situation where some of them lose interest in schooling and decide to stay away from when schools re-open.
“Even when the vaccine comes, the possibility that they will vaccinate teachers, support staff and all students is unlikely. The same way testing is limited to a few who can afford it, this might be the case with the vaccine.”
He also notes that reports from the health ministry show that the average infection rate of people in Uganda is 21 years of age, “meaning that the students in lower classes are safe, even when taken back to the school”.
The proprietor of Naalya Secondary Schools, Dr Livingstone Ddungu, says if there are varying options which can be applied in different schools to allow the re-opening to take place “this should be tried out”. Ddungu, however, also concurs that if this is not safe, the country would rather wait for the vaccine.
Suggestions
In their report, the education ministry’s inspectors recommended a distance of two metres from one learner to another while in the classroom and dormitory.
They proposed that schools can only re-open for the sub-candidates (Primary Six, Senior Three and Senior Five).
The inspectors recommended a double shift system, where some of the students would report to school between 8:00am-12:40pm and the second shift would move in at 1:00pm-5:40pm.
They suggested that students can also study on different days of the week.
Are Candidate Classes Safe?
Apart from the re-opening of lower classes, the new education inspectors’ report says almost all schools in the country which were re-opened for candidates are meeting the SOPS.
“Over 90% of the education institutions visited were observing the SOPs as stipulated in the education specific guidelines,” the report reads.
The report also notes that majority of the schools had organised trainings for the staff on COVID-19-related issues.
“Security guards in many schools had received instructions to manage visitors (entry and exit) and how to operate the calibrated temperature guns.”
The report also notes that learners in candidate classes who were in the institutions had been properly guided on how to protect themselves and others from contracting COVID-19.
The inspectors were also concerned about some teachers who do not wear face masks, claiming they do not have the virus.
Kakooza warns such schools and teachers against the vice. “We will not take this lightly. We will have their supervisors and those specific teachers flouting the SOPs penalised for endangering the students in their schools,” he says.
The inspectors were also impressed by the fact that many schools had COVID-19 messages displayed in the compound and classrooms and that there were fewer cases of COVID-19 reported in schools.
