Ugandan students have urged President Yoweri Museveni and his government not to close schools again over new variants of Covid19 or surges in infections.
Schools have been closed for almost two years since the March 2020 lockdown.
Phased reopening of education institutions was disrupted by new waves of Covid19.
In his most recent address on his government’s Covid19 response, President Museveni said he would fully reopen education and other sectors in January 2022.
But students, under the Uganda National Students Association (Unsa), have expressed worry that newly discovered Covid19 Omicron variant could disrupt school reopening plans.
“Unfortunately, as the country prepares to fully open schools and the economy, we are already seeing a new variant, Omicron,” said Unsa president Yusuf Welunga at a press briefing in Kampala.
“With limited information about its severity, there is need to prepare for the worst.”
By preparing for the worst, Welunga argued, schools would be able to keep operating even when new variants show up or even when cases are confirmed in schools.
“It is important that once the schools are opened up, they run without further disruptions, irrespective of the Covid19 state in the country,” noted Welunga.
“Any additional closure of schools will wipe out almost all the gains made in Uganda’s education sector and economy over the last twenty (20) years.”
Meanwhile, Unsa has launched the ‘Keep Schools Open and Safe’ Campaign in which the association hopes to contribute to efforts to keep education institutions opened once they reopen next month.
In this campaign, the association has pledged to mobilize up to 2,000 paramedical student volunteers such as lab technicians, nurses, and midwives who have just completed their studies but are yet to be deployed to get trained in Covid19 rapid testing, asking medical training institutions to teach them how to manage mild cases. These, Welunga proposed, will be deployed in schools to do screening, active surveillance, case management and provide data on Covid19.
“When any student is observed with Covid19 like signs like flu, high temperature etc, the student shall be immediately tested. If found positive, he/she shall be isolated in any nearby possible facility,” said the Unsa boss.
“An emergency response team shall be sent in to test all asymptomatic contacts to see whether they have the disease.”
