CSOs task gov’t to release plan for schools re-opening

By Charles Katabalwa

1^st February 2021

The Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) and Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA) have tasked government to come up with a complete plan of reopening schools for all learners to ease public anxiety.

The CSOs note that there is uncertainty on the continuity of studies for non-candidate classes especially when it comes to vulnerable children living in poor and rural areas.

Salima Namusobya, the Executive Director Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, says the prolonged closure of schools without an open and transparent plan shared by the government leaves the population in a dilemma about the future of the learners many of whom have become victims to high cases of child abuse and exploitation including sexual violence, teenage pregnancies and child marriages among others.

She explains that although the government has tried to put in place several interventions to ensure that learners do not lose out on education completely thorough Radios and TVs and distribution of study materials, this hasn’t reached many of the intended beneficiaries.

Out of the 15 million learners who were forced to stay home in prevention of the spread of covid-19 in March last year only finalists who are about 2 million have resumed studies, but in a cabinet sitting today a clear communication on the matter is expected to be out for Ugandans.