The ministry of Education and Sports has issued 27 new Standard Operating Procedures ( SOPs) required for the reopening of schools and institutions of higher learning in Uganda which were closed in March due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
These SOP’s were launched on Tuesday July 28, 2020 at Kabale district Rukiiko in Kabale municipality where the Education Ministry’s Assistant Commissioner in Charge of private schools and institutions Mr. George Mutekanga noted that government is preparing on how they will reopen schools while following all the set guidelines by the ministry of health in order to avoid the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
In March this year, President Yoweri Museveni ordered for the closure of schools and suspended religious gatherings across the country in attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The new SOPs for schools, include; every school forming a Covid-19 taskforce, daily and timely screening of temperatures of learners, compulsory wearing of face masks by both learners and teachers, creation of isolations rooms at every school, access to water by learners every time, daily disinfection of classroom floors, walls, furniture, toilets using soap and water, restricted access to schools and screening done at school gates and creation of adequate spaces at schools to accommodate recommended distance, single beds or one student on a double decker, and keeping 2 meters between beds, lesson plans should include messages of Covid-19 at and the end of every lessons, among other procedures.
Mutekanga said that all school heads and administrators have been given a period of one month to do the preparations to enable the government re-think of re-opening schools in September.
He added that if school administrators fail to comply with the guidelines, government may not reopen schools till Covid-19 is no more in the country. He said that school administrators need to engage even parents in order to have all guidelines complied too by all stakeholders.
When asked on what happened to the government plan of providing radios and Television sets to people to enable distance learning, Mutekanga refused to comment on the matter saying that government is still analyzing its applicability.