Uganda plans to reopen schools next year – but who will return? | | Corona virus epidemic

Kampala, Uganda Former Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni he announced last month for the schools to reopen in January, 15-year-old Florence Nagawa had already decided she would never return to study.

In March 2020, all places of study in this country were closed due to the coronavirus epidemic. During that time, Nagawa became pregnant twice and was evicted from the house where she lived with her grandmother. She is now alone with her two sons in a small house in Kamwokya, a densely populated and poorly-built area within Kampala’s capital.

“Where should I take the children?” Nagawa said as he peeled beans from his neighbor to earn less than a dollar a day. “Who will be in charge of me? How will I earn enough money to feed them when I return to school? “

Nagawa’s story is not the only story. The more than 80-week closed school – the longest in the world – “has done more harm than good”, said Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNTU) secretary general Bagume Firbert.

“Students are in a lot of trouble now than they would have been in a school with a [COVID-19-related] managed implementation, “he added.

According to the National Planning Authority (NPA), many such 30 percent Students are expected not to return to school in January due to teenage pregnancies, early marriage and child labor.

Between March 2020 and June this year, the country reported that girls between the ages of 10 and 24 rose by 22.5 percent. data from the UNICEF exhibition.

‘Touch’ money

In September, Education Minister Janet Museveni, who is also the country’s first woman, called for the closure of schools, saying the plan seeks to protect about 15 million students from the deadly COVID-19 threat. more than 3,250 people in the country.

Critics say that, although the Delta divergence led to an increase in the number of cases in June that led to a 42-day closure, the number of cases that followed did not justify the closure of schools.

For girls like Nagawa, cultural norms and stigma can make them ashamed to go back to school during pregnancy, said Salima Namusobya, director of NISER, which focuses on higher education. Parents who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the epidemic may also choose to set aside money for the education of their sons, instead of daughters who might get married.

But even the boys are not giving up because of the closure of the schools, with many entering the children’s markets and working as mines, street vendors and sugar plantations. And while some want to get back into the classroom, others are more comfortable with the idea of ​​making money, no matter how small.

“They have already started ‘catching’ money so they don’t see any reason to go back to school,” Namusobya said.

It seems that teens who earn money are not the only ones who feel that way. Nakityo Teopister, who teaches English and social sciences to 100 students at Saint Kizito Primary School, bakes cassava and pancakes in Mulago district, just outside Kampala. After being abandoned by her husband and left with four children in her arms, the 30-year-old decided to rent a storefront to start a cooking business, 16 months after school closed.

Teacher Nakityo, as clients refer to him, said he now earns more than he earns from his teaching career. “My plan is to grow my business, I will not go back to teaching,” he said.

When the Ministry of Education paid salaries to teachers in closed public schools, the private sector was not supported. As a result, many of them quit their jobs.

“There is no guarantee that all teachers will return,” said Nabendra Dahal, director of youth education and development at UNICEF Uganda.

Meanwhile, some public schools have been unable to repay loans due to the epidemic and have been forced to close or rent their premises for other purposes. In August, the NPA said that approximately 3,507 primary and 832 secondary schools could be closed due to financial constraints.

Nakityo Teopister, 30, an English and social sciences teacher has decided to quit her teaching career. They now roast cassava and pancakes in Mulago district as it is a lucrative business [Dear Jean/Al Jazeera]

Unequal loss, unequal recovery

As questions on how the government can reduce the problem of closures for students, teachers and schools, the Ministry of Education has released a reopening process that includes the establishment of a COVID-19 study case and a direct line between them. schools and health services.

The government wants to get involved in these areas to encourage students and teachers to return to school. The program also looks at funding for schools to improve their developmental skills, as well as providing madness and didactical training to support teachers within two years.

“They have a way, but not money,” Dahal said, adding that there is a $ 50m financial difference.

For more than a year, the government has also provided additional resources for students to continue their home education, including setting up TV and radio courses. But many rural students did not have access to such things or their parents did not have the experience to help them with homework. Data from the NPA shows that more than half of all students in all disciplines dropped out of school and their schools were closed.

This could make the gap between the rich and the poor even greater because the poorest students could be left behind in the courses they learned last year, said Namusobya of NISER.

“Education is one of the things that is trying to reduce this gap, and it is only getting worse,” he warned.

Firbert, director-general of UNTU, also warned that the crisis could lead to future economic collapse, depriving young people of development opportunities and a world of middle-class skills.

However, Dahal expressed his optimism, realizing that despite the many challenges the public, private sector and government agencies had agreed with the government to implement the reopening process.

Dahal observes: “Not everything is bad and it is sad. “We hope to make progress.”

Jean Dear reported from Kampala, Uganda, and Virginia Pietromarchi from Nairobi, Kenya