Last Updated on: 23rd November 2021, 09:31 am
Alebtong—23, November 2021: As schools are set to reopen in January 2022, the state minister for sports and education Denis Hamson Obua has appealed to teachers to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
Minister Obua says President Museveni has already showed that the economy and schools will reopen in January 2022, but said this is only possible if teachers take their Covid jabs for the safety of learners.
Obua was on Monday presiding over the launch of the third phase of home-based learning materials for P1- P4; S5 and S6.
According to minister Obua, 25% of the teachers have received their second jabs while only 69% have received their first jabs as per the statistics provided by the ministry of health.
“I encourage you to go and get vaccinated. Why would someone in Russia make a vaccine to target you here in Ajure?” The minister asked, as he encourages teachers to set good examples by receiving the COVID-19 jabs and to desist from spreading myths.
The minister further urged the police and local authorities to cause the arrest of men behind rampant defilement and teenage pregnancies in the district.
According to the district education officer (DEO) Moses Olwit, Alebtong district has 75 primary schools of which 42 are in Ajuri County while 33 are in Moroto. There are eight government-aided secondary schools and 25 private ones in the district.
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Joy Christine Auma is the principal assistant secretary. She said efforts are in place to recruit more teachers to fill the gaps in the staff ceiling in some of the schools–both primary and secondary.
Currently, she says secondary schools are operating at only 60% staff ceiling.
Musa Birungi is the senior educations officer who represented commissioner basic education. “The study materials were procured with a grant from the world bank,” he says.
“The education ministry and ministry of health are in talks to ensure that reopening of the schools are sustainable and safe for the children,” he added, before telling minister Obua, “Honorable minister, this study material covers up all learners and they are free of charge and we don’t expect other sectors to charge.”
The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Robert Adyama said the district did not perform well in last year’s national exams and urged the head teachers to deliver the study materials to impact on performance.
David Kennedy Odongo, the Alebtong district LC5 chairman observed that there are vast opportunities to be harnessed to improve education standards in the district.
He warned that there will be a complete overhaul in the education sector which will include setting up a team of individual right from the village level to enforce learning.
He appealed to minister Obua to lobby the government to repair broken infrastructures in some of the schools whose roofs have been blown off by the wind.