How schools, students have adjusted to the new normal in the Covid-19 pandemic

This month, March marks a year since the current pandemic forced most governments around the world to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus. 

This impacted over 91 per cent of the world’s student population according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Uganda was obviously not spared and the unforeseen situation of the Covid-19 pandemic is another spanner in the works in the education situation of its school-going age population.

As the children could not physically attend school, the government advocated for children to get their education through electronic means, including TV and radio. To that end, lessons for a period of time were aired on TV stations including Uganda Broadcasting Corporation as well as different radio stations, especially for those in candidate classes. Materials were also placed in the New Vision newspaper to be dispersed to different districts. This material was also put on an online portal for as many people to access.

Soon, in order to deal with the gap, a number of schools both local and international came up with online classes for their children. This created a contentious debate amongst many about the "haves" and "have-nots". How many families were able to afford computers, laptops, data and all that is needed to access online education? Secondly, the current state of technology infrastructure and access in Uganda only allows for electronic measures to serve a few and provide basic programmes; there would not be comprehensive or long-term solutions.

Nevertheless, for schools and families that could access and take on online learning, this was implemented. This meant though that the level of digital literacy skills between privileged and the deprived groups continued to widen the education gap.

Schooling has changed

After seven months since the lockdown, candidate classes (Primary Seven, Senior Four and Senior Six) were allowed to open for a second term in October 2020. The new normal in a school setting consisted of newly implemented washing points, temperature checks and a social distancing of two metres.

The ministry of education came up with abridged guidelines to help schools implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). As far as day scholars are concerned, Director of Basic and Secondary School Education Ismail Mulindwa says where schools offer both day and boarding sections, both learners are not supposed to interact.

“After inspection, we guided them to choose between becoming fully day or boarding, to which schools adhered to,” he said.

“For some who could not enforce this, they had an option of creating wings so that each section was situated in its own wings without the mix. Schools like Masaka Secondary School and Kyambogo College executed this properly. On the other side of the coin, it became cumbersome for teachers who had a heavy load to teach.

“This also had a financial implication on parents who were forced to have their children join boarding. We had two cases which did force the parents to pay for the boarding section. Later the ministry intervened and the matter was sorted out,” Mulindwa states.

Going forward, schools have had to operate according to their official registration status. If one is known to be a boarding school, then they continue to operate as such, and the same applies to the day section.

To support the sector, the ministry of finance disbursed the capitation grant and provided Shs1.5million to purchase materials to enforce the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to all government schools through the local government. The capitation grant varies depending on the numbers enrolled.

There have however been delays in some areas which is attributed to the slow action of local governments to disburse the funds.

Adjusting to the new normal

Meanwhile, the schools administration, students, pupils and parents have had their own challenges and adjusting to do.

Ms Hajjat Aminah Mukasa, the headteacher at Kololo High School admits it has been a challenge as the worry is of students being exposed to the virus during the lockdown, but also adjusting to school work. “There has been low morale to study. They had forgotten how to write down notes but at the beginning of this term, we have witnessed a change in the learners. They know what they want to achieve.”

For Patience Birungi, a candidate at Buganda Road Primary school, there has been some adjusting to do. “Things changed at the first reopening of schools. There was discomfort for the first two hours of wearing a mask. Some children suffering from asthma used to suffocate sometimes but later got used.”

There has also been the problem of students not returning to school at all for various reasons. Some of these former students have gotten jobs. Others fell pregnant and were unable to go back to school, while others because their parents lost their source of income are unable to pay tuition.

Amidst the Covid-19 scourge however, not more than four schools registered Covid cases in the country. The Ministry of Education and Sports have closely worked with the Ministry of Health to monitor the potential emergence of Covid-19 clusters in schools.

The new expenses on parents

For James Musamali, online studying had a lot of challenges because it was a new experience. The father of three girls studying online admits that they are excited about reopening schools for a physical encounter. “The fact they had all the time at home, their concentration levels have been low because some teachers lacked required skills to engage them. The internet connectivity and power supply has not been reliable either.” This has been a life-changing experience for James’s family to come to terms with.

Olivia Nakigozi Bulega, a sign language interpreter and mother of two that attend Dream Africa schools remarks that online classes have been helpful during the pandemic although the biggest challenge has been capturing the attention of the little ones.

“My boy in primary three needs someone to supervise him and they would need to be controlled by teachers because they play around. But at least it is better to have something. My children, whose school was one of first to enroll in an online learning model, have learnt how to use the computer as well as submit their work.”

She paid half of the school fees this time around because she had paid on time for the first term that ended abruptly.

“Of course the internet is expensive. I usually load Shs50,000 per month but it gets over before a month especially when I am away and the kids misuse it. Internet instability is another challenge. In all, I am still grateful to the teachers who have offered their best during this crisis,” Nakigozi acknowledges.

Whereas lockdown measures have been intended to reduce transmission, protecting people by closing schools and businesses, restricting transport and imposing curfews, a strain was mounted on the lives of young people. This has exacerbated other risks that need to be addressed.

The scare of Covid-19 on children is still felt in their lives. With the phased reopening of schools, it is essential that more investment in child protection in order to prevent them getting Covid-19 is done and that the plan is mainstreamed into other sector plans.

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