The State Minister for Primary Education, Joyce Moriku Kaducu has said that only teachers who have taken the covid-19 jab will be allowed in classrooms when schools reopen on Monday next week.
In his end-of-year message to the country on 31 December, 2021, President Yoweri Museveni ordered for the re-opening of schools on 10th January, and ever since he made the directive, students and teachers are in preparations to return to their respective schools that have been closed for almost two years due to Covid-19.
However, according to Minister Kaducu, for teachers who have deliberately refused to take Covid-19 vaccinations, it could be the end of their employment. She told journalists on Wednesday that teachers were among the first categories to be vaccinated in the entire country and the ministry expects every teacher to report with his/her vaccination card.
“We are not going to allow them to enter into the classrooms but they will be allowed to come to school for the ministry to check out who is vaccinated and who is not, and those found not vaccinated will be subjected to vaccination so that they don’t enter classrooms unvaccinated,” she said.
The ministry has also given two weeks to all public-school teachers to report back to work or face disciplinary committee for their absence or be replaced.
“If you have not reported for two weeks, we shall count that you have absconded the school. They will be subjected to the disciplinary committee, first of all, to explain why they have been absent and if their explanation is genuine that is well and good but if they fail they will be put off the payroll and be replaced.”
In the same spirit, the Ministry of Health has prohibited mandatory covid-19 testing for learners in schools.
The spokesperson of Health Ministry Emmanuel Ainebyoona said, “The Director-General Health services has already written that it’s not necessary to have kids tested because PCR tests are expensive, yet currently most of the parents are struggling to get money for schools fees. So at the moment, we have written to the Ministry of Education to ensure that no school enforces covid-19 testing as a requirement for students going back to school and in any event that school and sense some likely cases, the ministry of health will carry out tests in such schools.”
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