School reopening: No kits for students’ & teachers’ Covid19 testing

Government may not test all teachers and students ahead of school reopening as earlier planned, ICT and National Guidance minister Judith Nabakooba has revealed.

Education institutions will reopen their gates to candidates and finalists on October 15 after almost seven months of closure to prevent the spread of Covid19.

Although government had planned to carry out tests on all finalists, candidates and their teachers, Minister Nabakooba now says it would be impossible to do so in the remaining time.

She said the exercise would also require more money and kits, which are unavailable at the moment.

“It will be very difficult for me to comment about the Covid19 test because we are looking at 1.2 million people when candidates [and finalists] resume classes,” she told reporters in Kampala on October 04.

“I don’t think we have those testing kits to cover those numbers in such a short time.”

She added: “The Ministry has given a number of Standard Operating Procedures that meant to keep our children safe from COVID-19.

“It is important that the parents and teachers follow these guidelines properly. The Ministry of Education is going to continue updating the schools and parents regarding what we have to do.”

Nabakooba said government believes “the guidelines that were given by the ministry of education are sufficient enough to enable the teachers and parents to work together and make sure that our children are safe.”

She emphasized that “if schools can observe social distancing and the issues of sanitization but also the use of the masks, our children will be safe.”