KAMPALA – Cabinet is to hold a special meeting this week to decide the fate of schools and other learning institutions that have been closed since March due to Covid-19.
After the meeting, President Museveni will address the country on the way forward.
This was revealed by State Minister for Tourism Godfrey Kiwanda on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, Senior Presidential Press Secretary Don Wanyama also revealed that a tentative date for the address is Saturday and any changes will be communicated.
Mr Museveni had earlier on said that the big announcement on schools would be made before September but no announcement has come up yet. Meanwhile, governments around the world are slowly reopening schools as health experts say it’s vital for children to resume education having put in place standard operating procedures.
Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga on Tuesday directed Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to immediately appear before parliament and provide the government position in regard to re-opening of education institutions.
Kadaga’s directive followed complaints by a section of Members of Parliament in regard to the contradictory statements from different government institutions in regard to the proposed re-opening of schools which have left parents, proprietors of schools and other people anxious.
Education institutions were closed in March this year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The move was meant to protect over 15 million learners in high-risk concentration centres against coronavirus and at the time of the closure, the idea was that learners could report back to school after 32 days.
The country’s academic year normally runs from February to November covering 260 days of curricular and co-curricular activities, assessment, and national examinations. Under this arrangement, the system leaves 104 days for holidays. Around this time, the children would be reporting for the third term of school.
Bulamogi County MP Kenneth Lubogo raised a matter of national importance questioning why government had not taken a step to declare a dead academic year given the Covid-19 pandemic.
