By Leilah Bbaale
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has announced fresh restrictions as part of measures to control the COVID-19 transmissions in the country in face of the second wave of the pandemic.
Among the fresh restrictions, the president has directed the closure of all educational institutions across the country for 42 days effective 8; 00 a.m. on June 7, 2021. Ordering that all school ongoing children should return to their effective homes in space of three days.
Prior to the announcement, there have been signs of closure of school since Friday with the ministry of education issuing a circular halting schools from receiving or sending learners at home. Unfortunately, there are some parents and schools that refused to follow the issued guideline as they normally do.
While addressing the nation on Sunday evening, the president noted that there have been increased clusters of COVID-19 infections in schools of late. On top of the ever-increasing cases, he observed that some schools were concealing cases fearing that their schools could be closed.
Currently, there are 948 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in over 43 schools and institutions of higher learning scattered in 22 districts across the country with the highest numbers of infections reported in Kampala, Oyam, Wakiso, and Masaka districts.
Before the presidential address, some educational institutions had already suspended physical learning activities to control the surging number of cases in their communities. Such schools include; Green Hill Academy Secondary School, Kyambogo University and Cavendish University.
This week, schools have been preparing to receive the last group of learners under the staggering learning system which was adopted for the academic year 2019/2020. In this arrangement, primary schools were expecting to receive P1, P2, P3, and P6 pupils while secondary schools were bound to receive S3 and S5 students.
