IMG 20210616 WA0012

UPC tells schools to discourage stigmatization, bullying of pregnant learners 

(Last Updated On: 6 January 2022)

The Kampala road-based political party wants schools to prioritize counselling of students…


Kampala – January 6, 2022: Schools across Uganda will reopen on January 10, more than 700 days after it was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Addressing the nation on December 31, 2021, President Museveni reopened the economy in “a staggered manner”. The education sector was fully reopened.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, January 5 at its headquarters, UPC spokesperson Arach Oyat Sharon said UPC applauds the government for full reopening of the economy that has been locked down for two years. 

“UPC has been at the forefront of calling for strategic full reopening of the economy while carrying out massive Covid-19 vaccinations as well as encouraging people to ensure observing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in order to be on the safer side,” she added.

As schools prepare to reopen on January 10, 2022, Arach said it has come to their attention that the Ministry of Education has an abridged curriculum of education, where the study syllabus has been compressed or repackaged to stress the important topics. 

“As UPC, we embrace the abridged syllabus but with caution that the Ministry of Education should regularly re-equip and organize refresher courses for the teachers as the materials they are used to teaching have been compressed and teachers provided with the training manuals.” 

UPC also wants the same ministry to keep a close eye to ensure teachers internalize the knowledge base for continuous professional development. “This can be done through periodic follow-up and evaluation of both students and teachers to ensure quality education and excellence in the education sector.”

According to UPC, the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown have led to early pregnancies amongst young girls making them mothers. The Kampala road-based political party wants schools to prioritize counselling of students and discourage any kind of discrimination, stigmatization and bullying. 


ALSO READ:

Lukome primary school – Gulu: Termites eat over 200 textbooks

Headteachers tasked to register all learners ahead of school reopening 

Open letter to Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba on Kakwenza by Odaka Asuman 


“School owners are encouraged not to segregate among students especially the young mothers, pregnant girls and even the boys who are responsible for those pregnancies and children. They too have a right to education and therefore they should be allowed to attend school.”

“We recognize that, the current economic situation has made majority of items related to school fees and scholastic materials expensive due to scarcity attributed to the subsequent lockdowns. However, UPC urges government to come up and regulate the business sector and the schools not to over shoot the prices to enable parents and schools to operate as well as enable children go to school,” Arach said.

The political party say the government should also extend the student loans to the lower-class students and those that are unable to pay their school fees due to vulnerability, to be provided with bursaries as a way of promoting education for all. 

Transport 

After operating at half capacity for months, the transport industry was given the mandate to operate at full capacity effective immediately while maintaining SOPs. 

Hopes were that with 100% passengers onboard, fares would reduce – alas, yet.

“We now want to call upon the people dealing in transport industry most especially the operators of public transport to be considerate and normalize the transport charges since their business is also back to normal. This will allow parents and guardians to take back their children to school and enable people to transact their business well,” UPC said Wednesday.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *