KAMPALA – Uganda’s Ministry of Education on Friday released a fresh statement -suspending an earlier planned return of Primary one, two and three back to school.
The pupils were meant to resume classes next week as holidays for Primary four and five were scheduled for start yesterday.
The call for the delay of holidays for the Primary 4 and 5s seems to have come late, as most schools had already released learners.
The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza released the latest development through his twitter handle – saying the next direction should follow President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s address planned for Sunday.
The latest calendar show that P1-P3 classes are expected to report back on June 7, 2021 after P4 and P5 breaking off for holidays on June 4.
The semi-candidate classes -comprising P.6; S.3 and S.5 are also expected to report back for a special term on June 7.
“Pending the expected guidance of HE the President, Ministry of Education and Sports informs manager of education institutions and the general public that the planned reporting back to school and breaking off for holidays, as indicated above, should be delayed until further notice,” announced Kakooza in the statement.
Several cases of Covid-19 have been reported across the country, with the Universities being more open, and seeking help to resolve the crisis.
“The ministry of Education and Sports is working closely with Ministry of Health to control the spread of the pandemic in education institutions and ensure early reporting and effective management of any emerging cases,” Kakooza reassured.
Earlier schedule
All the Primary six, Senior 3 and Senior 5s who returned home a week back thinking they are now candidates, were suddenly told after they had broken off, that they have one more term to go – June 7 to July 24.
“As part of the strategy for recovery of lost learning time, the Ministry included a special term of eight weeks for semi-candidate classes; that is P6, S3 and S5, since they had less time compared to the to the other classes to recover the lost learning time in the respective education cycles,” noted Kakooza in a circular dated May 19.
“School administrators are once again urged to work with the parents on flexible fees payments given the short notice and the financial constraints many families are going through.
“School administrators are reminded that the special is a fraction of the normal school term therefore the fees to be charged for the special term should reflect this fact,” he advised.
Kakooza stressed there should be no promotions until after the term ends for all in July. “No learner shall be promoted to the next class before 9th August 2021; the start of Academic Year 2021,” he said.
The original plan was for Primary 1, 2 and 3 pupils to be the last to rejoin on June 7, after the semi-candidates of P6 get their holidays. The pupils of P4 and P5 will also have completed, so the schools were supposed be occupied by only Primary 1, 2 and 3s from June 7.
The schedule released in February by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and Sports Kakooza, will still ensure the academic calendar 2020-21 ends in July.
“The dates indicated on this calendar may only be varied after obtaining written permission, on an individual basis,” PS Kakooza said.
“Please note that academic year 2020 for primary schools, secondary schools and post primary education institutions will end in July 2021. Thereafter, a comprehensive school calendar for 2021 academic year, as well as a strategy for recovery of lost time, will be issued. Progression to the next class will be based on attendance and continuous assessment of class work and assignments.”
