Government has given green light to all schools to reopen for candidate classes, and finalists in universities and other tertiary institutions, starting September 20.
Senior presidential adviser on epidemics, Dr Monica Musenero, yesterday said that the meeting between the national Covid-19 taskforce and President Museveni on September 1, agreed to have schools re-open for primary seven, senior four, senior six and finalist students in universities and other tertiary institutions.
However, schools must fulfill a set of guidelines (Standard Operating Procedures- SOPs) in prevention of spread of coronavirus before re-opening -Dr Musenero said.
“Schools are free to reopen for all candidate classes provided that they meet the standard operating procedures that have been put in place by the government” Dr Musenero said.
On September 02, the Minister of Education Hon Janet Museveni wrote to the Minister of Finance to release capitation grants for third term to enable schools prepare for reopening of candidate classes.
According to the Ministry of Education, each pupil gets shs17,000 per year in government-aided primary schools, whereas in secondary schools, each A-level student gets shs88000 and shs55000 for O-level per term as capitation grant.
In a September,1,2020 letter to Vice-Chancellors and Principals of institutions offering health-related courses in the country, the Executive Director of the National Council for Higher Education, Prof. Mary Okwakol said following consultations and the need to address the issue of medical interns and the services they provide, government has decided to reopen institutions for final year students.
Another letter from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) wrote on September 01, institutions with finalists undertaking medical courses were cleared to reopen on September 28.
Finalists offering Bachelors in Medical Surgery, Dental Surgery, Midwifery, Nursing, Pharmacy and Allied Medical Professionals were cleared to reopen.
Others include finalists undertaking diploma in different disciplines and postgraduate students on health related programmes.