In light of the closure of schools including universities and tertiary institutions as a way of combating the Corona Virus pandemic, a lot of jubilation has erupted among many students as some of them took to playing loud music and jubilating outside their halls of residence while others went to celebrate in other places for ‘one last time’ before the quarantine period officially kicks off.
However, there are some students who actually had mixed feelings about the whole incident and a small number was actually not happy.
Elvis from Uganda Christian University says it works in his favor but this closure is going to bankrupt more people than killing them. He says the quarantine will interrupt with the running of businesses and other sources of income for many Ugandans and that by the time normalcy resumes, people will be broke.
Other students believe that the closure is a blessing in disguise for them since they were already tired from attending lectures and doing tests. When asked whether the closure would affect her, Grace from Ndejje University said, “Academically, not at all! I’m not graduating any time soon, so me I’m kawa.”
“African leaders are copying the western world and doing things that their economises cannot sustain. If corona had started from Africa like all the other diseases that massively killed people and spread in a similar way, no one would be closing anything . I feel like there’s dirty politics in this whole corona virus thing and the reaction of governments to it.” Sheila from Makerere University reasoned.
Another student from the Ivory Tower supports his fellow and believes the government is reacting unnecessarily. He said suspending education for a full month is akin to ‘blowing the issue out of proportion and that government needs to revise their decision. “This may or may not be personal. But a whole month of no school is ‘blowing things out of proportion’ in my opinion!” Ajok told Campus Bee.
Other students are worried about the prolonging of the semester and the deadlines of submission for their final year projects, which according to them will not be affected at all.
“There’s a lot of stuff we need to do (read final year project) and pushing us out of school isn’t going to get the submission dates lifted but rather, the dates are going to stay there and we’ll be forced to work on these projects from home. There’s need for fast internet, some software and tutorials and stuff that’s best accessed from school. Generally, nobody needed their one month. I need to submit my progress on this project, do my finals and GET DONE!!!” Sharon from Makerere told our reporter.
Patrick from Makerere University Business School (MUBS) expresses unrivalled joy and excitement because of the upcoming coursework that will now be postponed. He is also quick to mention, however, that he had already paid rent for the semester as well as for meals at a particular restaurant and as such he does not know if there will be adjustments to this arrangement.
From this small survey of random selection that the Campus Bee has done, it is evident that although most students are ecstatic about the impromptu holiday, some are actually uncertain of what the future holds for them. Regardless, we do encourage each one of you to comply and enjoy the quarantine period!
