The education ministry has released the scorecard strategy that will be used to determine whether an academic institution is allowed to reopen or not.
According to the ministry, a countrywide inspection of schools commences today ahead of the planned re-opening for finalists on 16th October 2020.
What inspectors will be looking out for
According to Department of Education Standards, only academic institutions that will meet the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be issued a certificate of compliance.
Any school without the certificate of compliance will not be allowed to operate.
According to inspection guidelines, for a school to obtain a certificate of compliance, they will be required to have a fence or any other demarcated school boundary, which serves as a barrier from intruders.
In addition, the inspectors will be looking out for the existence of personal protection gear for school guards at the gate and other staff.
The other facilities to be considered include cleanliness of compounds and all school infrastructure and display of the COVID-19 preventive messages in strategic places.
The inspectors will also look out for evidence of safe garbage and waste disposal management practices, not only for rubbish but also wastewater, after washing hands. All schools are required to have soak pits.
For the guards, the inspection guidelines indicate that they must have undergone training and they will be required to work 24 hours.
In addition, schools will be required to have adequate toilet or latrines for learners with a ratio of 1:56.
Schools that score below 50% will not be allowed to open and parents will be advised to transfer the learners to other schools that meet the requirements.
According to the inspection guidelines, only schools that will score 60% and above, will be allowed to reopen.
In addition, the guidelines say schools that would have scored between 50% and 59%, will be given one week to put in place the critical facilities before they reopen.
A maximum number of learners will be indicated for each school in the
recommendations and schools will not be allowed to admit more than the established capacity.
Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the head of the Directorate of Education Standards (DES) at the line ministry, said the accounting officers at the local government level will be the overall overseers of the exercise and facilitate officers in their respective areas.
The ministry stated that about 500 education inspectors have been deployed to working alongside the district local governments, to conduct the inspection.
“We have a big team. We will go school per school. This is also an opportunity to know which schools are operating illegally. We, therefore, ask them to present the legal documents on ownership and licensing,” he said.
He also warned schools against hiring equipment to obtain the score, saying those caught will not be allowed to reopen.
“We will also be monitoring officers who will be awarding marks for the sake of money. We are prepared for everything. Such officers will face disciplinary action,” he said.