Learners need to be mentally prepared

Covid-19 has unquestionably caused disruptions to all the key sectors of the economy, with the education sector being hit most since some of the learning institutions have been closed up to date. This continuous closure of the learning institutions has affected more than one billion learners around the world.

 It is close to two years from the time schools were closed in March 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. The long wait for schools to reopen prompted many of the children, especially girls, to be violated sexually thereby causing cases of teenage pregnancies to spiral.

 Yes, it is true that prior to Covid-19 interruption of schools, Uganda had been overwhelmed with the issue of teenage pregnancies. One in four girls aged 15 to 19 has a child, more than 40 percent of the teenage pregnancies are unintended. Though teenage pregnancy cases had been registered, Covid-19 has worsened the situation.

 Besides the sexual violence, some of the children have been forced to enter into the workforce in order to provide financial support to their families. A Save the Children report shows that there are increased cases of child labour in the workplaces where children tend to work for as little as Shs5000 a day.

As much as the Employment Act authorises the employment of children under the age of 14 years to perform light work under the supervision of an adult aged 18 years, it is not okay for them to work instead of being in school because education is key to success. 

The National Planning Authority has come out with the projection that over 30 per cent out of 15 million learners that were in school before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Uganda are likely not to return to school and this translates into 4.5 million learners across the different education levels.

 Many of the students have lost interest in getting back to school. They claim that they have outgrown their class levels and are already used to the working environment that provides them with some earnings.  Putting all the responsibilities on the President, who has been lifting other parts of the sector, leaving the learning institutions closed for so long, therefore not valuing them.

As the government and the ministry of education are scheduling the reopening of primary and secondary schools in 2022, a lot needs to be done for learners to ensure that they are mentally prepared given the fact that they have been experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, isolation, grief and increased violence while at home.

The government needs to provide a clear curriculum plan that caters to the current needs of children that have been the victims of teenage pregnancies. This will reduce the learners’ fears and worries of not being accepted in school once again.

 Time needs to be created by parents so that they can engage with their children to know the challenges  they are facing and this can be done through rapport building where children can easily open up and speak their minds. Furthermore, counselling and guidance also need to be offered since it helps in navigating difficult situations. 

Hand washing facilities, sanitisers, mask policies, frequent cleaning of surfaces and objectives, adequate and appropriate ventilation, cohorting teachers and students should be fully implemented as a way of responding to the standard operating procedures set forth by the Ministry of Health.

The government, stakeholders, non- governmental organisations, faith based organisations, community based organisations need to be united if Uganda as a country is to progress in bringing the education back on track. 

Lastly, I urge the government to go ahead and implement the proposal of funding the private sector that has been rejected by the stakeholders to ensure that all learners are able to go back to school since they are the majority. 

Ms Hildah Nsimiire is a research intern Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies