Leadership Magazine – Would declaring a dead year have been better than staggered reopening of schools in Uganda?

Would declaring a dead year have been better than staggered reopening of schools in Uganda?

Mar 15, 2021 Leader Leading Education 0

Ugandans have been living with closed schools and some version of lockdown for close to a year since March 2020. The time children have spent at home during the Covid-19 forced school shut down has for sure negatively affected them. It’s no longer news to report about teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, mental illness, attempted suicide because of untold depression in addition to education losses for children due to Covid- 19. This situation is most likely to result into a generational challenge that will continue for a lifetime.

Education stakeholders are all worried about education uncertainties as many seem to believe that more needs to be addressed to countercheck the education disruption brought by Covid-19.While some countries like Kenya declared a dead year, the good news to Ugandans is that the government has decided to reopen schools but in a staggered manner. Reporting to school started with candidate classes that already completed what would be their second term and are now back for their last term to sit for their final examinations. The circular from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) Permanent Secretary to all education institutions, clearly specifies dates for all classes to report to school.

The first classes to report are the Candidate classes, followed by Sub candidate classes on 1st March. When the candidates complete exams, more classes will report; with some reporting in June. This implies that the education calendar will definitely change.
Depending on the staggered program provided by MOES, some classes will have to cover the content that would have been covered in a whole year in just two months. This calls for change in pedagogical methods which teachers need to be prepared and oriented on.

In my discussion with Mr Ssali Henry, the headteacher of Pope John Paul 11 High school in Nakaseke district, he had this to say “…I received the circular from the Ministry of Education but a lot must be done, ranging from covering the content for a whole year in two months, fulfilling the Ministry of Health (MOH) Standard Operation Procedures amidst lack of resources and implementation of the MOES requirements without proper orientation for teachers.”

According to the circular, it’s assumed that children have been at home undergoing active remote learning which is contrary to the reality. Addressing learning loss and implementing large-scale catch-up programs rather than the normal sequence of the school terms is a top priority for the government. This is because learning loss will not impact all students in the same way. Without targeted, evidenced interventions, the gap between the rich and poor children which have widened considerably during the months of school closure must be addressed. Read More