By Zalimon Basighalha (Good Luck)
Administrators of the different Institutions of learning in Kasese district are currently working tooth and nail to clean the school compounds and putting hand washing materials in place ahead of the official reopening of schools on January 10, this year.
In March 2020, all educational institutions in Uganda were put under lock as one of the ways to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
But in his 2021 End of Year address, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni announced plans to lift the Covid-19 containment measures this month that had been in place since March 2020, including reopening schools, bars and night clubs among others.
Now, after spending more than 80 weeks of closure, Pre-primary, Primary, Secondary and Post- Secondary institutions are currently busy preparing their premises ahead of the reopening date.
On 4th Jan, our reporter visited Kisinga Vocational Secondary School and Kisinga Primary School in Kisinga Town Council in Bukonzo County East to ascertain their level of preparedness.
At Kisinga Vocational Secondary School, our reporter was warmly welcomed by the Security Guard at the School main gate who immediately sanitized him before being allowed access to the Head teacher’s Office.
On his way to the Head teacher’s Office, our reporter saw a group of men and women very busy slashing the school compound, cleaning the verandas while others were placing hand washing materials in some essential areas to prepare for the students who will report to the school on Monday January 10, 2022.
Some parents were also seen coming with their children to get some admission forms as well as registering them in the school register.
Benjamin Masereka, the School’s Head teacher told our reporter that they were working around the clock to make sure that the students return to the institution safely and in total observance of the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures that were issued by the Ministry of Health.
Masereka explained that he was optimistic that a good number of students would return to the institution despite the challenge of teenage pregnancies during the prolonged Covid-19 induced lockdown.
He used the same platform to reveal that the school has started an e –learning science program funded by the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education and Sports in collaboration with the Cyber School Technology to improve the teaching of Sciences at the school.
Masereka, who also doubles as the Chairperson for the Association of Secondary Schools Head teachers of Uganda – Kasese chapter, discouraged the parents in the district from taking their children to the schools outside the district, arguing that most secondary schools in the district are now empowered to make the learners excel. At Kisinga Primary School, our reporter found one Jocknus Kule, a primary seven teacher at the school premises, who said they were waiting for more than 1,008 pupils who were at the school before the Covdi-19 induced lockdown was instituted.