When HIV / Aids scourge came in; we developed approaches on how best to live with HIV …others resorted to abstaining, use of condoms , HIV blood testing and others are taking ARVS to positively live with HIV. Since then life has gone on normal with HIV pandemic .
Suffice to say; Covid 19 is here to stay especially in Africa . But it’s negative impact on Europe and Asia can’t be the same like in Africa. Africa is blessed to have good weather unlike European and Asian winters that provided fertile ground for Covid 19 to replicate in human body easily. That said, Covid 19 is here to stay e g.We haven’t come to level where we rarely use paper money. How many that sanitize paper money…how many that handle paper money in day? Thus, it’s prudent upon government not to curtail academic future of students in name of checking the spread of Covid 19. Indeed , government should be planning on how best to mitigate the spread of Covid 19 in school setting by putting up Covid 19 prevention guidelines For example ; give free masks and sanitizers to students and teachers, Non – Contact infrared Thermometers or let them get at lowest price. Massive sensitization about preventive guidelines like being mandatory for schools to have different hand washing points and emphasis on social distancing. We were happy that most schools obliged when government put up guidelines for Candidates/ finals to report. Why delay other classes?
We appeal to Uganda’s ministry of Education to make research about student drop out rates and students’ pregnancies especially in this Covid 19 pandemic lockdown . Iam inclined to believe that the more we delay to re- open schools, the more students’ academic dreams will be shattered. To my opinion, the unpredictable fate of our educational institutions is total liability to academic future of these young learners. Their vulnerability is more visible as they get locked out school. We ought to be in their shoes. As adults ; our future is secure… Teachers continue to get their salaries or can embrace other means of survival but to learners; their future is getting insecure and disimpowered day in and day out. Admittedly, as adults; we rarely picture out what goes in the minds of these learners being not in school for almost year. Their mindset is now more secular than academic , thus being vulnerable to drop out of school. We only blame their behavioural actions but not attending to their emotional and psycho-social needs.
For God’s sake; does government need professors of Economics to guide it on how schools can get free or cheaper masks, sanitizers and non- contact infrared Thermometers…Common sense rule invites one to remove taxes on these products for final consumer to get at subsidized price….is even government too poor not to provide these products free of charge to schools….No solid justisfications as why our learners keep locked out of school…it’s being insensitive to their future.
To adumbrate my opinion; we must learn to live with Covid 19. Let schools re-open while following Covid 19 SOPS and even looking at how best to incorporate eating of fruits by students and teachers to improve their body immunity . Covid 19 is here to stay and we must learn to live with it . For government to wait until we have zero Covid 19 infection to re-open schools is like sawing sawdust to get timber. It’s too impractical.
“IAM NOT TEACHER BUT AWAKENER” -ROBERT FROST
Igambirine III Hillary
Former Headmaster.
Education motivational speaker.
igahillary@gmail.com
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