No school in Mpigi District will reopen next week before fulfilling the guidelines for controlling the spread of Covid-19.
Mpigi District Education Officer Deogratius Ssekyole said that the directive is meant to ensure that there are no covid-19 cases.
Speaking during a meeting for private headteachers and school owners on Thursday, Ssekyole also said that the teachers will also be trained on how to mitigate the spread of Covid -19.
Gerald Katongole the District Schools Inspector, said that all schools will be inspected to ensure to gauge their readiness and ability to implement the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures- SOPs before they reopen.
Hajj Faisal Ssenono Zaake, the Chairperson of Mpigi Private Schools Association said they did not object to the directives but expressed concern over the management of pregnant learners who will turn up when the schools reopen.
On the issue of automatic promotion of children, Zaake explained that the move is counterproductive considering that the two years which children spent at home during the lockdown affected them negatively.
He asked the authorities to allow the teachers to find where the children fit but not have the automatic promotion because it cannot work and that most of the children will not pass.
Zaake appealed to the parents to meet with the teachers of the respective schools to assess the children and place them in fitting classes to avoid increasing cases of school dropouts.
Zaake also said that there are no textbooks and teachers were not well trained on the implementation of the new curriculum.
Mpigi LCV Chairperson, Martin Ssejjemba described the private teachers as major stakeholders in the education sector who need to embrace standards and improvement in education.
Schools were closed in March 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
