According to Uganda School Calendar for 2022, both private and government-aided primary schools, secondary schools, technical schools, farm schools, and polytechnics were obliged to end school term two on 12th August 2022. However, most private schools ended the term before due dates citing increased operational costs especially high food costs.
The economy was opened to operate to full capacity but prices for food items and other services have continued to rise and subsequently causing increased cost of living. For example, a kilogram of maize flour has spiked from Shs2,000 to Shs4,000, a bunch of matooke from Shs10,000 to Shs20,000 and a kilogramsof beans from Shs3,000 to Shs4,000. Continuous increase in fuel prices has subjected numerous food and non-food items to hike in prices. A laundry soap bar increased from Shs4000 to Shs8,000. This has tremendously affected school proprietors and administrators.
The government through ministry of education and sports warned schools to desist from closing the term early because learners were planned to use the extended period to compensate lost time during Covid-19 lockdowns.
UCC counsellor reached out to children benefitting from the education program and found out that a substantial number had been sent to the village to reduce maintenance costs at home. Such children are the ones staying in the slums or informal settlements.
Life continued to bite most parents and caretakers of such children whose businesses were closed due to illegal vending on the city streets. City laws do not allow people to do hawking business on the city streets because they are not legally gazetted areas by the
city council. A big number of our parents or caretakers are mainly engaged in such businesses due to lack of adequate capital to start reasonable businesses. When Covid-19 broke out and subsequent lockdowns declared, most affected small businesses belonged to low-income earners who completely ran out of operational capital. Others failed to raise money for house rent and had to vacate to cheaper houses or relocate to villages.
This unusual situation affected learners whose caregivers had to start again to look for new schools. Incidentally, schools within their vicinity also faced negative economic consequences particularly those in private education provision.
This led many caregivers to register their children in public schools which were already overwhelmed with huge numbers. Some schools subjected new children to class specific interviews whose results determined their admission. Such situations affected children psychologically because they had been at home for almost two years without organized learning.
Actually, most children could not attempt these questions and were made to repeat or demoted. The government policy allowed the learner to proceed to the next class because the curriculum was enhanced to address gaps that were created by the lockdowns. The government had also improvised several channels to reach out to learners who were at home. For example, they distributed learning materials, organized TV and radios programs, while a few attended online lessons. This was subject to availability of resources in terms of data, battery cells, electricity, radio and tv sets among others.
Learners who could not afford these resources were left out and this affected them psychologically. Some children supported by UCC who went through these processes showed signs of mental distress as reported by their parents and caregivers. UCC embarked on providing counselling to meet their needs to regain courage and self-worthiness.
These interventions facilitated learners to accept the new normal, concentrated on their studies to utilize their strengths to achieve their goals. By close of the term, our children were performing excellently in their studies and this is attributed to continuous counselling both children and their care givers.