KAMPALA – Government has promised to issue a formal statement come next Tuesday in regard to reopening schools for other classes.
This was announced by Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda while addressing Parliament on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
This was after MPs accused government of not giving a clear communication to different stakeholders with regard to reopening schools.
Joseph Ssewungu, the Kalungu West MP, while raising a matter of national importance during plenary sai,d that parents have been left in the dark and do not know the fate of their children.
Ssewungu also said that there has not been any report on the effects of the school opening for the candidate classes and whether COVID-19 has increased or has been contained.
According to Ssewungu, internet blackout further affected the online classes.
Geoffrey Macho, the Busia Municipality MP says that Kenya has opened schools and yet parents in Uganda are not being informed as far as education resumption is concerned.
However, Dr Rugunda said it is not correct that Government is silent on the matter. He says since the outbreak of the pandemic, the education sector has been thoroughly monitored by the Government. He adds that the government is still monitoring the situation.
The speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga ruled that the Government needs to bring a comprehensive statement on opening schools on Tuesday next week.
On Wednesday, the National Council of Higher Education -NCHE said that Higher Institutions of learning will open after the next three months.
According to the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) Executive Director Professor Mary Okwakol, the communication is based on prior advice from the Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataha Museveni.
The media has been awash with claims that the government is slated to reopen schools for all the learners by mid next month 2021.
The government closed down schools on March 21, 2020, following the COVID-19 outbreak as the government moved to protect approximately 15 million Ugandans, learners and staffs in these institutions from contracting the scourge.
In October last year, the government reopened institutions of learning for only candidates and finalists.
