Campus Bee has exclusively learned that all universities in Uganda as well as schools will remain closed as President Museveni is expected to ease some of the lockdown rules. According to the minutes from the last meeting that Campus Bee has set eyes on, schools will continue learning remotely.
Museveni is expected to address the country on 4th May (Monday) to deliver new guidelines as far as the fight against COVID-19 is concerned. However, inside sources suggest that the Ministry of Education is currently trying to come up with ways of helping students keep up with the syllabus while in their homes, a move that somehow confirms the government’s decision to keep universities closed.
Museveni recently announced that the government’s decision to ease lockdown will greatly be decided by a team of health professionals who are currently sampling 20,000 Ugandans by testing them for COVID-19.
Universities and other schools closed on 20th March 2020 but the outcry of final-year students has been too loud as they wanted to wrap up their education and focus on job hunting. Third-years were warming up to kick off their internship only to hear that some companies have instead cancelled these opportunities.
The reopening dates of universities remain unknown as the Coronavirus Pandemic continues to bite hard. Rwanda recently announced their decision to keep universities closed till September and we are waiting to see if Uganda will follow suit.
Some of the resolutions from the last meeting by Cabinet and members of the COVID-19 task force suggest that public transport will be reopened but under strict measures. Taxis are expected to carry only 9 passengers while buses will load half capacity making sure that there is an empty space seat between each passenger.
Some businesses like bars will reportedly remain closed while arcades, retail shops and officers will be required to close at 7pm and curfew will kick off at 10pm till 6 in the morning, among other conditions.
The ministry of health is expected to start mass testing of COVID-19 to make sure that the infected people are removed from the population.
