Minister Janet writes to MPs on schools reopening

In a letter to the Speaker of Parliament and MPs, the Minister of Education and Sports said her ministry working in concert with the Ministry of Health have put in place several measures to keep students, students and schooling staff safe as schools reopen. 

“The Ministry of Education and Sports, working closely with the Ministry of Health, has finalised both the school calendar for reopening of schools and requisite guidelines; to promote safe learning environments and mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in schools,” the Minister’s letter reads. 

The strategies the minister alludes to include vaccination of all teaching and non-teaching staff as well as learners above 18 years of age in tertiary institutions, the strengthening of Covid-19 surveillance and the adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 

“Those who are not vaccinated must not be allowed to access any school premises. The emergence of the new Covid-19 variant calls for us not to be complacent about safety measures which include vaccination,” the minister’s letter continues. 

About the refreshment of schools, the minister said that Shs 2.6 billion of the Capitation Grant will be availed so that schools will not only be safe, but provide a sound environment for learning. 

The latter also revealed that the ministry of Education and Sports has trained 2,310 teachers as master trainers in private and public schools on the modalities for the recovery of lost learning time, thanks to the lockdown. 

This training empowered the master trainers to provide psychosocial support to learners as well as teaching staff and non-teaching staff.  

“As a ministry, what we are against is the arbitrary increase of the school charges. Therefore, we appeal to schools to be mindful that these learners are coming from families that have equally been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have guided that upon reopening, even as it were after the first lockdown, parents should not be asked to pay higher school fees than what they were paying before school closures,” the minister wrote.