Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Schools across the country are waiting for the ministry of education to release the updated standard operating procedures ahead of the expected reopening for non-candidates classes.
When the government announced the reopening of schools, as part of the pre-reopening activities, the ministry had to update the SOPs. Although inspection has kicked off, the said tools have not been developed leaving school proprietors, teachers, and parents guessing.
Hassan Gombe, the headteacher of Mulago High School notes that ahead of the reopening, there are many unanswered questions that could be answered with the release of guidelines and also enable schools to prepare accordingly.
“You can’t inspect schools and then release the reopening guidelines and SOPs later,” says Gombe. “It is this inspection that is going to inform how ready a school is. We don’t know whether they will allow schools to run as both day and boarding this time round. We don’t know how many students will be allowed in a class.”
Many other schools visited by our reporters were also sounding similar grievances noting that the minister of education should have issued the guidelines before the inspection started.
Asked what parameters they using during the ongoing inspection, Juliet Namuddu, the director in charge of education at Kampala Capital City Authority noted that in absence of the updated inspection assessment tools, they have been advised to adopt the ones that were used before schools reopened for candidates.
In Nakasongola, the district education authorities have halted the entire inspection process citing delays in accessing reopening guidelines and inspection tools. Sam Mbangire, the District Inspector of Schools says that the exercise is likely to be conducted on opening day.
In Soroti city, education authorities are equally worried. They note with great concern that if the SOPs are not updated, many schools might not reopen given the lack of space and furniture.
Party Emokol, the Principal Education Officer in Soroti city says whereas candidate classes were easily accommodated, the physical distancing might require revision of guidelines earlier on the sitting arrangement.
He notes that with the bigger numbers expected from semi- candidate classes, the available space and furniture may not accommodate all the learners.
However Stephen Batanudde, the Nakaseke District Education Officer says that inspection is ongoing and they have so far noted challenges among schools relating to lack of space to accommodate the incoming learners per the existing guidelines.
“With the current guidelines, many schools might not reopen now,” Batanudde said. “For them to have enough space, we would have to wait for the candidates to complete their exams.”
Several sources at the ministry of education note that the social distance rule might either be suspended or reduced to one-metre. But there is no official communication to this effect.
Ismael Mulindwa, the director of basic education at the education ministry says that despite the delays, the ministry of health has already shared a draft of the updated sops pending discussion by education ministry top management before they can be adopted.
Mulindwa however notes that there are few changes that have been made. He adds that they are working around the clock to ensure that the sops are out before the official reopening dates.
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