Silence on illegal classes throws education sector into confusion

Pupils in Buikwe District during their break on March 17. Some schools are not following the Education ministry reopening guidelines. PHOTO / DENIS EDEMA

What you need to know:

  • The Education ministry has warned those defying the reopening guidelines that they risk losing their licences.

Government’s silence on schools, which have defied a phased school reopening, has left the education sector in confusion with many parents not sure what to do next for their children. 

Various stakeholders yesterday told Daily Monitor that they had observed the inconsistences in implementing the standard operating procedures of staggered school reopening to allow social distancing among learners in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Ismail Mulindwa, the Ministry of Education director of basic education and the ministry’s Covid-19 taskforce chairman, blamed mainly the private sector for defying the rules, warning that those who will be implicated in their impromptu inspections risk losing licences.

“We are going to put those schools in order. Any school we find open to classes which we have not yet allowed will be tasked to explain why it defied the ministry regulations. We have received reports that some schools have reopened to classes which are not yet called back and our teams are moving around. Should we find you with those classes, you should be able to explain or show cause why we shouldn’t close that school and why we should not discipline the head teacher,” Mr Mulindwa said.

“We have already engaged our inspectorate. They are already moving around to see what is happening. Most of those schools defying are private schools. They should show cause why their licences should not be cancelled. It is clear. They know the classes that are supposed to be at school. Primary One, Two and Three (pupils) are not yet back. Nursery schools are not supposed to reopen, including international schools with early childhood development sections.”  The ministry’s Permanent Secretary,  Mr Alex Kakooza,  requested the public to report the schools which have defied the reopening guidelines. 

“It is wrong. Let’s know who has fully reopened and we take action. We issued a calendar,” Mr Kakooza said. 
Mr Hassadu Kirabira, the National Private Educational Institutions Association secretary, acknowledged that some of their members were not following the guidelines which were issued as they observe the trends of the virus before government can fully reopen schools. 

However, he blamed government for failure to fulfil its commitment to the private sector. 
For instance, he said some schools were forced to reopen because their teachers were starving and schools had loans to pay which couldn’t be facilitated by a section of the learners that were permitted to report.
In addition, Mr Kirabira said government is taking long to vaccinate the teachers,  a pre-condition for schools to fully operate next academic year.

“We have heard that some of the schools have reopened fully, which is contrary to our agreement with ministry of education. However, I blame government. They have not done what they promised to do. They will not handle vaccination on time as they had communicated. The result will again cause a delay the next academic year which they had promised full reopening. We shall oppose continued partial reopening,” Mr Kirabira said. 

He said some institutions, especially nursery schools, have resorted to changing their status in order to reopen after government ordered that they stay closed until there are no coronavirus cases reported.
Mr Kirabira warned parents who are having private arrangements with schools other than the approved guidelines, saying it is unacceptable and they will be held liable. 

“Parents were called to take back to school their children. Those are private arrangements but official arrangements are clear. We are going to get our members. We hear there are nurseries renaming to primaries. That camouflaging can’t help us,” he said. 

The Commissioner in-charge of the Directorate of Education Standards, Mr Esau Nshabirwe, said they will inspect secondary schools next week after completing that for primary.
 He said school inspection of Covid-19 compliance has been decentralised with respective districts expected to take action against those administrators who are defying the rules. 

He added that their report on primary schools showed that many flouted measures on the recommended two-metre social distance and wearing masks . 

Luckily, Mr Nshabirwe said schools hadn’t experienced any surge in Covid-19 cases and were at least compliant on hand-washing points. 

According to the ministry calendar, P1, P2 and P3 will report on June 7 while Senior Two are expected in school on May 31. 

Reaction 

Mr Filbert Baguma, Uganda National Teachers’ Union secretary general: “I have seen young children in the morning [and I keep] wondering where they are going, including those in nursery. Some schools are fully operational. That causes challenges because that laxity is dangerous where you have some schools fully operational and others in phased operation. It causes distortion. The person responsible for monitoring these schools should answer some of these questions. 

If they find that some schools have operated and there is no problem, then they should advise government so that all schools are operational. Some of the learners are not uniformed. Those who are uniformed are in the age bracket of those classes allowed to operate. Those who are at home feel cheated. The economic pressures forced some of these schools to reopen so that teachers can get something. It is high time the ministry [gave] a comprehensive report and advice on the way forward. Children are safer at school than at home. Covid-19 has brought out that properly.”

Mr Martin Okiria Obore, chairperson of the Association of Secondary School Head teachers of Uganda: “There is total confusion. It is time the ministry made a statement again. A few schools have defied orders. They have allowed the Senior Two students to come back. Some schools got pressure from their parents.

Parents are tired of keeping children and children also want to go back to school.  Some schools looked at the economic aspect. It is very difficult to sustain a school in this phased reopening. Some schools fear losing students. But whoever has fully reopened has done it on their own because you are supposed to get permission from the ministry [of Education]. They may be penalised.”