The Minister of Education, Janet Museveni in her address yesterday on the progress of the Education sector amidst COVID-19, officially gave universities a go-ahead to conduct online classes.
Minister Janet stated to the public that the time was not yet right to have learners going back to their institutions of learning; not even for candidate classes as they had, as a Ministry earlier thought.
“After taking into consideration all the views, we resolved that the time was not yet right to have learners go back to their institutions of learning, not even yet for candidate classes. It was based on this guidance that cabinet advised to maintain the closure of all schools and institutions” she said
Minister Janet revealed that the Education Ministry has received specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) from the Ministry of Health to guide in determining the Education Sector’s readiness to re-open Institutions of Learning.
She adds that her Ministry shall review these the SOPs and advise Cabinet with time, but in due course, she advised universities to adopt to e-learning.
“It is our desire as a sector that all universities and tertiary institutions do e-learning as soon as possible. In this regard, the Ministry has already put in place guidelines for implementation of e-learning.” She said
The Minister dispelled reports that the Ministry of Education and Sports prohibited e-learning according to sections of the media.
“This is absolutely not true; we cannot be the ones banning what we are promoting,” she said.
The Minister noted that a number of institutions including Uganda Christian University(UCU), Makerere University, and several International Schools in Basic and Secondary levels have been utilizing e-learning; even before the outbreak of COVID-19 and this she says, should go on.
