School owners draw lessons from lockdown

The abrupt closure of schools in March following the outbreak of the first case of Covid-19 caught most private schools off-guard.

Since then, most private school owners say they have drawn several lessons from the lockdown that if the clock were turned backwards, they would play their cards better.

Ms Mariam Munyaruguru, the co-director of Jinja Progressive Secondary School, at the weekend said she has learnt to diversify other than depend on one business.

“For instance, if you have a school business, get some funds and diversify into farming or hardware shop and so on because right now, we are suffering because we had put all our eggs in one basket,” Ms Munyaruguru said.

“Private schools are the owners of businesses and at least 75 per cent of them are fully dependent on that for their livelihood, but we currently don’t have money to survive and look after our dependents,” she added.

The fees policy at her school, she said, allows students to study for a month before they are given demand notices. However, when schools were closed in March, about 1,500 students had not paid any money.

Ms Munyaruguru, however, noted that the school had not gone into loans, but has creditors of construction materials who are demanding for their money.

In Kyotera District, Mr John Ssentume, the head teacher of St Charles Lwanga Primary School, said teachers must have a backup.
“We always advised them to open up small businesses so that they can support their families since their salaries weren’t enough,” he said.

Last resort
Ms Florence Namata, the head teacher of St Nicholas Mannya Primary School in Rakai District, told Daily Monitor that for her teachers to survive, there has been a ‘collective struggle’ among themselves.

“As teachers, we have always helped one another and made sure that in such times of Covid-19, we devised means of how to help each other and many teachers have demonstrated that they are dynamic and have switched to other jobs such as selling foodstuffs, which will keep them until the lockdown is fully lifted,” she explained.

Mr Betty Namugaayi, an administrator at Bright Future Vocational Secondary School in Kawempe, says since the lockdown was abrupt, they had no appropriate plan for their teachers’ survival.

“Since some of our parents do not pay fees on time, we have tried to look for money elsewhere to enable some of the teachers meet their basic needs during the lockdown,” she said.

In Buikwe District, the head teacher of St Noa Mawaggali Senior Secondary School, Mbiko in Njeru Municipality, Mr Leonard Ssali, says he has learnt ‘many lessons’ from the current crisis.

“During the first three months of the lockdown, I was able to provide food to teachers and other staff because it was still available in the store; but currently, I have nothing to give,” he says, advising teachers to setup small businesses, while those with land should use it for cultivation.

In Lira District, Mr Peter Olong, the proprietor of Smile High School in Central Division, said they were not prepared for the closure of the school, describing the moment as ‘hurriedly done in a mess’.

He, however, concedes that whatever happened is a ‘big lesson’ that they should always be prepared and that in future, when the school reopens, they will demand for full payment of fees such that in case of any eventuality, the school remains financially secure to continue supporting its staff.

In Soroti, proprietors of private schools regret their ‘poor saving culture’ among them and their teaching staff.
The proprietor of Shalom Nursery and Primary Schools in Soroti Town, Ms Susan Priscilla Ijoku, called for school proprietors and teachers to embrace a saving culture to cater for uncertainties.

“Although in my school teachers used to save Shs20,000 per month in their association, there could have been need to set up other income-generating projects to cater for other uncertainties, especially domestic demands and this should be considered after Covid-19,” she added.

In Adjumani District, Mr Lawrence Urri, the director of St Veronica Nursery and Primary School, disclosed that outbreak of Covid-19 has reminded school proprietors about the importance of financial discipline.

“Most of us are feeling the burden of Covid-19 because we have a poor saving culture and mainly rely on finances generated from termly school fees,” he said, urging government to come up with a loan scheme that would enable private school owners acquire loans at low interest rates.

In Mbarara City, Ms Mary Francis Kabatereine, the director of Kabateraine Memorial School, regrets not having invested in e-learning portals for both students and staff.

“If we had thought of this early enough, there wouldn’t be a challenge linking the learners to their teachers during this lockdown. Instead, communication and access to education information would be cheaper,” she said.

Mr Elly Atuhereza, the director of Alliance School in Ibanda Municipality, has learnt to diversify investments.

“True, almost all businesses were affected but the level is not the same. I am re-evaluating the whole business plan I had for the calendar year, including costs; but it will also involve looking out for subsidies and alternative funding to mitigate Covid-19 effects,” he explained.

Ms Agnes Kinkuhaire, the director of Mothers Love Nursery and Primary School, said she has learnt to always prepare and have a risk management plan. “I was used to preparing just an income and expenditure plan for the term and seeing how much profits I was to get and stopping at that; butCovid-19 has opened my eyes to prepare for risks like disasters and outbreaks,” Ms Kinkuhaire said.

“I have already negotiated with my bank to extend my loan repayment period but will be forced to renegotiate for even another loan after the lockdown if I am to get back to business,” she added.

Compiled by Philip Wafula, Fred Wambede, George Muron, Perez Rumanzi, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabira, Sylvester Ssemugenyi, Denis Edema, Dan Wandera, Patrick Ebong, Martin Okudi & Rajab Mukombozi