The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Education and Sports has announced that it will display the lists of schools approved to reopen.
Benson Kule Baritazale, the head of the inspection team for school reopening at the department of education standards, notes that the list will be displayed on public notice boards and in other designated spaces.
He adds that the same information will be shared with local radio stations and other available information sharing systems. Officially schools that have been cleared reopen today for the candidate classes.
Baritazale, who also doubles as the commissioner in charge of secondary education standards, says they have adopted the system to save parents from enrolling their children in unauthorized schools thus saving them from wasting resources and time.
The commissioners also advise that for the benefit of the safety of learners, parents should make due diligence to understand whether their preferred school is approved by seeking to see a copy of the issued certificate or check in the displayed list.
Baritazale however warns management committees and proprietors of unauthorized schools not to reopen as they will be risking to be prosecuted for flouting COVID-19 guidelines and the school inspection laws.
Inspection of primary and post-primary institutions started on October 5 and by Wednesday evening, the inspection team is said to have covered over 90 percent of 35,800 the targeted number of schools.
Currently, school inspectors have started issuing schools with certificates of compliance which is the instrument that authorizes the reopening of a given school.
Baritazale says that by Friday morning all inspectors are expected to have filed several school-approved per district, those who have been advised to improve on standards and those that are told not to reopen.
Frances Atima, commissioner teacher education standard who has also been in charge of inspection in northern Uganda, says preliminary reports indicate that almost 80 percent of the inspected schools will be allowed to reopen.
“Generally, schools have struggled to meet the required standards despite the limited time and resources at their disposal. There are a few schools which they have failed and this is basically due to poor management but still, we think they can improve and be allowed to reopen after a given period,” says Atima.
According to the inspection guidelines, for a school to be allowed to reopen must have scored at least 60 percent. However, the availability of hand washing facilities and social distance of learners are key and no school can be allowed to reopen if they fail to stratify the inspector on the two grounds.
Schools that score 50 to 59 percent will be given a week or less to make final touches in areas that they could be lacking. however, those that would have scored below 50 percent will not reopen completely. Members of the inspection unit will also carry out continued spot-on compliance inspections as soon as the learners report to their respective schools.
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