THE EFFECT OF COVID 19 ON THE ENJOYMENT OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION.

The COVID 19 pandemic has led to freezing of the enjoyment of many rights including the right to education.

Education has been frozen for the last four months since Friday 20th March 2020. What started as a temporary closure of learning institutions for one month, is now pointing towards costing learners the entire academic year.

The continued closure of schools has not only affected learners but their teachers too, especially those from private schools who can no longer feed themselves due to suspension of their earnings by their employers.

Those against the re-opening of the schools rely on the prevalence of the threat of Corona virus and the impossibilities of physical distancing in the learning institutions.

Share your views on whether it is possible for the government to re-open learning institutions amidst the threat and spread of COVID 19.

The government has fronted some plans to provide TV sets per village, radios hence facilitating an online teaching. This approach is not practicable since online teaching and learning can only benefit those in cities and urban centers in Uganda. Online teaching cannot help a common man deep in villages who has no access to internet and electricity.

Markets and trading centers like “Kikuubo” in Kampala have been opened for business as usual. One would have imagined that it would be more than possible for the schools to re-open and observe strict guidelines as may be issued by the ministry of Education.

Learning institutions are more abiding to rules and guidelines/SOPs when issued rather than any area of concentration of people. It is also safe for contract tracing in case of any victim of COVID 19.

I call upon government to come up with practical solutions to facilitate the re-opening of learning institutions since it does not know when Corona Virus will completely be wiped out.

We all agree that the right to life is so fundamental and takes precedent over any other right, this right cannot however be enjoyed in Isolation of other rights.

I implore government to urgently save the teacher from hunger and give them food

The Government of Uganda should open up the schools, with Standards of Procedure that can ensure the safety of pupils/students, teachers and support staff in schools.

We appreciate the work of the Government, but it should also bear in mind that much as it has fronted plans to provide television sets and radios to facilitate on-line learning, there are other limitations like electricity, distractions at home, and IT illiteracy.

How long COVID-19 will stay is unpredictable. The Government should recognize this and adopt means of living with the pandemic while facilitating the continuity of education. The Government can for example;

1. Provide protective gear (masks and gloves) to all teachers and students;
2. Provide enough temperature guns at every school;
3. Make sure that every school has a sufficient number of hand washing points, and availability of water and soap;
4. Require and ensure the implementation of social distancing guidelines;
5. For those schools that are too small to observe social distancing guidelines, students can be required to study in turns/shifts;
6. Deployment of officials at schools to monitor and ensure strict adherence to the guidelines;
7. Incorporate COVID-19 trainings into the school syllabi and facilitate trainings for the teaching and non-teaching staff as well, and;
8. Procure more testing kits specifically for the schools

Alternatively, schools can reopen to accommodate strictly those students/pupils who are unable to access e-learning platforms; and for those who can afford to access the platforms, the same classes can be followed online; or on television/radio.

If places like Kikuubo are open and operating as they wish, then there is more reason for schools to be allowed to reopen.

The institutions have been under lockdown for the past 95 days plus. Think about the human resource that have been working there full time. am wondering what they could be eating. most especially if am to quote todays news paper of 25-06-2020, the headlines read that education institutions could be heading for a dead year and the government is thinking of distributing radios and learning materials which never reach, is this really fair. ?

• I think we need to start up a campaign on ensuring right to Education.

Please guide me from the legal perspective what we would need in this campaign to make it reach to the relevant stakeholders ?

We need to set up Standard Operating Procedures:

1. Provide protective gear (masks and gloves) to all teachers and students
2. The schools should purchase their own temperature guns at every school;
3. Make sure that every school has a sufficient number of hand washing points, and availability of water and soap;
4. Require and ensure the implementation of social distancing guidelines,* but how about government UPE schools which have over 200 learners in a class ? For those schools that are too small to observe social distancing guidelines, students can be required to study in turns/shifts;

I entirely agree with you my brother Rica, government should not play double standards. When it comes to voters lining up at the polling Stations to cast a vote, the government is ready to do whatever it takes with or without COVID 19. In the same breath one would have expected that schools can be opened with guidelines in place to be implemented by the schools which are the epitome of discipline.