School Reopening Date Reportedly Pushed to January 2022

After a series of meetings, the Covid19 National Taskforce is said to have recommended that primary and secondary schools (education institutions) be reopened in January 2022.

The date was reached at during a Thursday meeting following other engagements that involved the Ministry of Education and Sports as well as Ministry of Health.

The decision for reopening was based on factors such as rate of vaccination of teachers, non-teaching staff in education institutions, sources said.

President Museveni has insisted that a significant number of staff and students should be vaccinated before reopening of education institutions.

The rate of vaccination for the targeted group is currently a little shy of 50 per cent.

Now, sources that attended the meeting to decide on reopening say the earliest primary and secondary schools will reopen is January 2022.

By then, it will be almost two years since schools were first closed in March 2020 over the Covid19 pandemic.

Learners such as those in Primary One and Primary Two have never stepped in classrooms since March 2020.

Sources say these will be given priority when schools reopen next year.

President Museveni is expected to communicate the decision on school reopening in his address on the Covid19 response sometime at the end of September.

But before then, Education Minister Janet Museveni and the Ministry’s officials are expected to give a brief on the matter in coming days.

It is not clear yet if the president will make changes to the proposed reopening date.