What next after PLE?

The Ministry of Education on Friday released the 2020 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results amid soaring Covid-19 infections, deaths among health workers, and prolonged school closure.

President Museveni in March last year closed schools to combat the spread of Covid-19 and later reopened them to candidate classes, before other learners were told to report, but in a staggered manner. 

However, soaring cases this year again forced the government to close the education institutions.

While releasing the results at State House, the Education and Sports minister, Ms Janet Museveni, said the reopening of schools across the country still hangs in balance with Cabinet yet to decide on the issue.

“I do not want to talk about something we are not confident about. The decision of closing or reopening schools is not made by my ministry alone. The decisions can only be made by the government after they have been discussed by Cabinet,” Ms Museveni said.

“It is premature to say we will open at this time. To me, I cannot say there is a time we shall open, but in the near future, we shall. We should all be patient,” she added.

What next?
With physical learning now impossible, concerned citizens and educationists have suggested a way forward.

Mr Anthony Odur, the executive director of Health Equity and Policy Initiative (HEPI), an NGO, said besides building a robust digital infrastructure, the government should consider cutting taxes on data and ICT tools to enable learning continuity.

“The new strategy will go a long way in reducing the increasing number of school dropouts during the pandemic,” he said.
Mr Patrick Olwit, the Lira District inspector of schools, lauded Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb) for releasing last year’s PLE results.

“What Uneb has done [by releasing PLE results] is very good because it has cleared the anxiety the candidates and their parents have been having, but we shall wait for guidance from the President about school reopening,” he said.
He urged parents to stay calm because Covid-19 is a national problem which has affected all the other sectors of the economy.

Mr Tom Okare, the Kole District education officer,  ruled out any hope of the government reopening schools in the near future because the President  emphasised that all teachers must have been fully vaccinated before learners report back.

“The government is expecting some doses of Covid-19 vaccines which may arrive in the country towards the end of this month, and you know that after the first vaccine, a person takes about 12 weeks before having the second jab; that means schools will not reopen any time soon because the majority of teachers are not vaccinated,” Mr Okware said.

In Jinja City, officials say they will not be involved in any education activities despite the release of results.
“The programme for the education department will be kick-started by our bosses in Kampala. For us (sic), we shall not do anything until we get a programme from the ministry of education,’’ the acting city education officer, Ms Amina Mutesi, said .

Mr Mohammed Isiko, the Namutumba District education officer, however, said the release of exams gives parents ample time to prepare their children for the next level as they wait for the presidential directive.

Mr Robert Musenze, the Bugiri assistant District education officer, advised parents to be patient as they wait for the next presidential directive.

“It is true that the disease is still on, but parents should be patient until schools reopen. They should use the education material in newspapers to make their children active at home and should not lose hope,’’ he said.

In Butongi Village, Bulumbi Sub-county, Busia District, Mr John Mulimba,  the father of Elaina Kukunda Adeeti, who scored Aggregate 6 from Naalya Hillside,  said he has the perfect plan for his daughter.

“We are preparing to have Elaina get the Senior One curriculum package and start reading from home. We are aware the current Senior Ones are still in the same class and yet this lot is also waiting.

“We imagine there will be a very short time for the students to study; therefore, the earlier, the better. We shall continue to keep the children safe but also make them feel that school is on until they formally report,” Mr Mulimba, who is also the State Minister for East African Affairs, said.

Donald Newton Nyangweso, who scored Aggregate 8, told Daily Monitor that he wants to become a pilot, adding that he is grateful to God for protection during the pandemic, and to his parents who paid his fees.

His father, Mr Denis Nyangweso, the Samia Bugwe Central MP, said he knew the son, whom he described as “a very disciplined and focused boy”, would perform well but not to this level, adding that he will proceed to St Mary’s College, Kisubi for his secondary studies.

But with uncertainty looming over when schools will return, Mr Nyangweso said he will also resort to a Senior One curriculum for his son, but emphasised safety as being of paramount concern.

Mr Paul Batanda, the Arua City town clerk, whose son Jerone Batanda scored Aggregate 4 from Hillside Primary School, Naalya, said: “At this point, it’s about continuing to be safe and plan on the next stage of life for these teens. A time will come and schools will reopen.”

He advised parents to plan for fees and other needs for their students, but also a plan to ensure a transition on how best they will be safe at school to avoid what happened last time when learners contracted Covid-19 and schools allegedly kept silent.

“This will help the government to plan to avoid a similar occurrence; And since  Covid-19 seems to still be lurking around much longer, the long term solution is SoPs (standard operating procedures), vaccinations [so that] business goes on,” he said.

In Soroti District, Ms Rose Akiding, whose cousins passed in Division one, said the next thing on their mind is to how to raise school fees for them.
“I am struggling, the organisation I work for has sent staff on leave following the blocking of DGF (Democratic Governance Facility) funding to organisations; so I don’t know what the future holds for those cousins,” she said.

Mr Paddy Mwesigye, the assistant Kabale District health officer in-charge of maternal and child health, urged parents and pupils celebrating their victory to ensure that they strictly observe the SoPs to avoid contracting Covid-19.

The principal inspector of schools in Kabale Municipality, Mr Grace Munyambabazi, said parents and pupils should be patient until government announces the date for reopening.

Mr George Bamuleseyo, the head teacher of Kennedy SS, Kawuku-Entebbe, said he doesn’t know what to do because it is still unclear when schools will reopen. 

“The economic situation is so bad to the extent that we are struggling to stay afloat,” he said.
Asked whether his school will manage to vaccinate all its staff if the government makes it a condition to reopen schools, Mr Bamuleseyo said: “We don’t have money to do so. Government should instead prioritise vaccination of staff in education institutions once the next consignment of vaccines arrives in the country.” 

Mr Ben Nkaata, the head teacher of Hill Road Primary School-Masaka, said once schools reopen, they will struggle to manage big numbers since learners in various classes were not promoted to the next level by the time a second lockdown was declared.

“That means we will have to require more resources to erect more structures and the government will have to come in since many schools are already financially constrained,” he said.

He, however, dismissed claims that schools concealed information about Covid-19 cases, saying they were following SoPs by the time President Museveni ordered the closure.

“The good thing is that a quarter of our staff has already received their second jabs, while half of them have at least got their first jab. So, we are not doing badly,” he added.

Devin Atugonza , a pupil of Ndandamire Primary School, who scored Aggregate 12, said his future plan is to become a doctor.  “I have been selling pancakes during this holiday to raise money to prepare me to join Senior One when schools reopen,” he said.

Mr Deogratious Sanyu, 52, who sat for PLE at Butunduzi Model Primary School and scored Aggregate 26, said his hope is to join secondary school but unfortunately, he has no school fees.

In Mbarara City, despite the results being released, the mood remained dull among some parents and school directors due to the uncertainty hovering over the future of schools.

Risky business
Bishop Nathan Tumuheirwe, a director at Adullam School, Mbarara, said investing in education has become very risky.
“We are putting up new structures to be able to accommodate pupils as per the Covid -19 SoPs, but we are not sure when we are supposed to reopen or whether parents will manage to pay for pupils’ education,” he said.

Mr Henry Lulu, an executive member at Springs Nursery and Primary School, said the results present another challenge because when schools reopen, there is fear that students will get infected, especially in boarding schools due to low vaccination uptake.

In Mbale, Mr Ivan Wakooli, a parent,  and resident of Namanyonyi Sub-county in Mbale City, said the government should consider reopening schools now that PLE results have been released lest learners drop out of school.

Ms Janat Namasaba, another resident, said the Ministry of Education should enforce automatic promotion to ensure continuity in the education cycle. 

“There is a need for automatic promotion of students who were affected by the closure of the schools,” she said.
Mr Steven Masiga, an education expert, said the Ministry of Education should guide the parents on the way forward. 

“The parents are confused because some of them have children who were supposed to be promoted to another class but they weren’t due to closure of schools,” he said.

Compiled by Philip Wafula, Bill Oketch, Tausi Nakato, Abubaker Kirunda, Patrick Ebong, Robert Muhereza, Rajab Mukombozi, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Felix Warom Okello, Malik Fahad Jjingo, Leonard Mbishinzimana, Andrew Mugati, Alex Ashaba, Emmanuel Arineitwe, Phoebe Masongole & Fred Wambede