First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni has said there will be no more Nursery/Kindergarten school until the COVID19 crisis is over.
Addressing reporters on Friday afternoon, Mrs Museveni said children will now start school in Primary one at 5 years old. Mrs. Museveni says parents should instead take on the mantle and do play learning with their children at home before sending them to Primary one.
She explained that the learners in this category cannot observe SOPs and are prone to respiratory infections. Mrs Museveni said because many of the pre-primary institutions are day-based, there is a lot of interfaces between learners, teachers and parents, which could increase the risk of infections.
Earlier ,President Museveni announced the re-opening dates for semi-candidates, universities and tertiary institutions. The announcement comes at a backdrop of a cabinet decision which gave a green light for semi candidates to resume learning.
According to the President, learners in Primary Six, S3 and S5 will resume classes on March 1, 2021, and will study in a staggered system where different groups of learners will be reporting to school on different days as decided by the ministry or school authorities.
He further argues that normal learning will possibly resume after a section of Ugandans have been vaccinated. On the fate of learners in other classes like P.4-5 and those in S.1-2, the president says they will also return to school after candidates have finished sitting their examinations. He, however, advises that they will also learn based on a staggered system blended with long-distance education whose detailed planned will be worked out by the ministry of education.
Museveni also expressed disappointment with the Members of Parliament who frustrated the home-schooling programme which was supposed to be through radio and television broadcast lessons.
Last year, Parliament declined to approve 336.8 Billion Shillings that was requested to purchase 9 million radio sets. The MPs branded the plan as an unnecessary expenditure.
