Sicola Tumwebaze, a strategy officer at Action for Batwa Empowerment Group (ABEG) says that out of the 220 Batwa household visited, 140 never attained formal education despite the introduction of Universal Primary and Secondary Education.
Celestino Ocen, the Principal Brother Conrad Vocational and Technical Institute, says that only 23 of the 70 registered candidates have turned for the Exam.
But Janet Lydia Ajwang, the head teacher Ikwera Negri School for the disabled, says due to financial burdens imposed on the parents by Covid-19 lock down, they have resolved to lower the school fees from 215,000 shillings to 120,000 shillings for the boarding learners.
Due to the high number of pregnancy cases recorded during the lockdown, ministry of education officials expected to have over 1,000 finalists in this state. However according to preliminary investigations, less than 200 finalists reported to education institutions when they were pregnant
The government program which will be conducted in vocational institutions starting February to April 2021, across the country at a free cost is meant to empower the youths will skills that enable them to sustain themselves in life.
Filbert Baguma, the Secretary-General of the Uganda National Teachers Union-UNATU says the decision to re-open schools is timely and welcome. He says following the re-opening of markets, arcades, public transport and places of worship, it was high time that schools were re-opened.
Eleven months after school closures due to the covid-19 pandemic, Filbert Baguma, the Uganda national teachers Union executive secretary says that at this rate the government needs to think outside the box and develop several strategies for different situations and different schools.
According to the revised school calendar, the school term which was scheduled to start on January 11, 2021, will now start on January 18, 2021, a few days after the general election. Ugandans will go to the polls on January 14, 2021 to vote for a President, Members of Parliament and district leaders.
“If you have a wheel chair and travelling on a bus, they will charge you and charge your wheel chair too”, Dr. Coole said, advising that the disabled can only defeat mistreatment by acquiring more for education.
Zenar Nasur the Luwero District Secretary for Education says that schools remained empty on day one after parents failed to pay fees to allow their children return for studies.
According to education ministry officials, school should not ask parents to provide masks for their children because government is going to give each finalist two facial masks
The schools scored over 60 per cent of the recommended Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) issued the Ministry of Education and Sports to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Apollo Okello, the secretary for health, education and sports Amuru district, says the most affected learners by the inadequate facilities are those from primary one to primary four.
According to Onen, they only have UGX 800,000 in their account to re-roof and renovate the two latrines and the teacher`s house which was housing two classroom teachers, yet they need at least 5 million for the work.
The chairperson of the committee Jacob Opolot observed that the children cannot study unsupervised through radio and television lessons and the majority of learners are faced with a strange language and approach that renders them unable to benefit from the lessons.
University resident staff that were among the first people at the scene of the burning building claim that the fear did not start in the public relations office as is being communicated by university administration. The residents says the fire either begun from the finance department or the central registry
While government might not be decided on the re-opening of schools, learners that URN spoke to say they are tired of being home and want to school. They say learning from home is impossible. They miss their friends and teachers
Last week, it rejected 24 patients from Kitgum over lack of space. Dr Paska Apio, who is in charge of the treatment centre at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital says that they have been forced to borrow beddings from Anaka Hospital in Nwoya and Amuru district to accommodate more people.
According to the UN agencies, prolonged closure of schools stops learning from taking place, which will leave children vulnerable. They say the government should prioritise the re-opening of schools as lockdowns are lifted, and develop frameworks to ensure safe environments.
Odongo stated that the law will cater for those who charge illegal fees under the guise of UNEB registration fees. He however, argued that schools are free to stipulate extra charges alongside the official UNEB fees as agreed by management or the Parent Teacher Associations of the respective schools to cater for additional costs of holding examinations at the school.
