Ministries send report on school opening to Museveni

The ministries of Health and Education yesterday said they submitted their report on Covid-19 prevention compliance to the President, and the final decision on whether to reopen schools or not this year now rests entirely in his hands.

Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education, on Wednesday said they are now waiting for Mr Museveni’s decision.

“We are waiting for the President. He is the one who announced the closure. We have provided him all the information. He is waiting to get verification from the ministry of health. As long as he gets all the information, he will tell us the next step to take,” Mr Muyingo said.

During a weekly press briefing on Wednesday, Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party raised concerns about the rising number of teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse and child marriages among school girls as a result of closure of schools.

Schools and other institutions were among the places shut in March to contain the prevalence of the pandemic.

Ms Sharon Arach Oyat, the UPC party spokesperson, asked government to prioritise protection of girls by introducing home inspection systems.

On Wednesday, the Health minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, said Health and Education ministries and the National Covid-19 Taskforce developed standard operating procedures which government has released to ensure the learners and staff are safe when the schools reopen.

“The issue of schools is being handled by the Ministry of Education and the national taskforce. We developed standard operating procedures which the Ministry of Education has been rolling out and discussions are still going on about that,” she said.

Dr Aceng added that Education ministry has been in regular contact with school owners about the update on considerations for reopening.

Mr Patrick Muinda, a commissioner for communication at the Education ministry, declined to reveal the recommendations in the report submitted to the President.

He said Mr Museveni told the country he would be the one to announce the reopening of schools.

Some conditions
-Committee with seven members who write a report to the district taskforce daily.
-Each class to have a student leader specifically for Covid-19.
-District Education officer to lead the district taskforce.
-District Health Officer to train teachers, heath workers and non-teaching staff on the control measures.
-Each school to recruit health assistant.