Lets’ get all our children back to school safely
Since March 2020, our schools have been closed as a measure taken to prevent COVID-19 spread. It is unfortunate that cases have continued to increase despite the prolonged lockdown, curfew, and school closures. We can no longer pretend that school closures and continued lockdown will curtail the spread of COVID-19 after seeing the numbers multiply and community transmissions escalate. Our children should get back to school and their safety guaranteed not just against COVID-19 but all forms of child abuse that we have seen manifesting during this lockdown.
Education is more than the right to learn for our children. Schools protect children from the physical dangers around them – including sexual abuse, domestic violence, early pregnancies among other forms of abuse. Schools also provide children with lifesaving skills and psychosocial support, giving children stability and structure to help them cope with any traumatic or challenging experiences they face the day. All children should be in schools where they can attain an excellent education and not remain exposed to predation and abuse in some of our communities.
Justifying the continued stay of children at home is now something that is detrimental to their growth and development. We know that a significant number of our girl-children have become pregnant during this prolonged school closure and that is likely to exacerbate maternal deaths in the coming months. We also know that some of our children have lost interest in returning to school because of their engagement as providers of labor and earning some little income from it, yet our leaders have continued to insinuate that children staying at home is a better option than returning to school. Here is what I propose that we urgently do to get all our children back to school and safely;
All stakeholders in the various schools should work together towards meeting the ministry of Education and the ministry of health SOPs and guidelines. If it calls for some form of fundraising, parents and other stakeholders should make sacrifices and acquire the items needed to enforce the SOPs. No one is coming from somewhere to help us get our children back to school, we are the change we have been waiting for.
Uganda has over 10,000 registered non-governmental organizations and several business entities. The primary objective of all these groups is to promote growth and development in the various communities they serve and, the most sustainable way to promote growth and development right now is to get our children back to school. Education is not only important for sustainable economic growth but necessary for nation-building and social cohesion. There is no better way to serve this nation right now than to have our children safely return to schools.
Development partners offering grant assistance for various programs running in Uganda should tag some of this support towards helping our children return to school. These funding partners should hold the government and others receiving these grants to account when it comes to getting our children back to school safely. We have often seen accountabilities being made for far less impactful interventions implemented by recipients of these grants. Yet this mammoth challenge to get our children back to school remains largely ignored at the moment.
Our leaders at all levels need to have unity in purpose to ensure that our children return to school. This requires that we avoid making statements that justify school dropout or encourage abuse of children during the lockdown. It was unfortunate to read statements attributed to our President recently claiming that pregnancy has never killed anyone, yet most of the 16 mothers dying daily in Uganda while giving birth are young mothers. The most valuable support that one can give to our young population today is mentorship support and this is what the school teachers have been providing.
Young people need guidance, affirmation for their efforts, skill, and protection against harm. The prolonged school closure has left many young people disoriented and exposed to various dangers. It is an opportunity for the elderly among us to play the guiding, counseling, and protection role now more than ever before as we work to recover from the current situation we find ourselves in.
Moses Ariong
Head of Alumni Programs
Teach For Uganda