“Continuous school closures aim to protect young people”, Janet Museveni

In a two-page statement, Ugandan Education Minister and First Lady Janet Museveni said the continued closure of schools in the country was aimed at protecting young people who are Uganda’s future from the COVID-19.

On her official twitter account, Ms Museveni asked parents to be patient as the government is dealing with vaccination of the vulnerable groups and students aged 18 and above.

“The only reason the government has chosen to let schools remain closed could be simply to ensure that the lives of children remain safe from the danger that the Covid-19 pandemic brings to human life or to a family. Sometimes, I see the very rude insinuations you send to me in our dialogue, like, #just open schools,” she noted.

President Yoweri Museveni first closed schools during the first lockdown that he imposed in March 2020, two days before Uganda registered its first Covid case.

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Elsewhere, Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) said an unknown number of teachers, out of jobs for a year-and-a-half, have ventured into other more profitable enterprises, including brick-making and businesses, and are unlikely to return to class, Dailymonitor reports.