Uganda Schools Finally Reopens Almost 2 Years After Closure

Schools in Uganda have fully reopened this morning, ending the world’s longest school closure after a gap of nearly two years.

Some 15 million pupils have not attended school in Uganda since March 2020 when classrooms were shuttered as a result of the pandemic.

Uganda’s Education Minister, John Muyingo said all students would automatically resume classes a year above where they left off.

“All schools have implemented guidelines and standard operating procedures to ensure the safe return of children to schools, and measures have been put in place to ensure those who don’t comply do so”.

Muyingo said any private schools demanding fees above pre-pandemic rates would be sanctioned.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni lifted the bulk of COVID-19-related restrictions in the country in September last year, but he left schools shuttered.

He announced in October last year that schools would reopen early next year regardless of the vaccination uptake.

The rush to return children to school clogged traffic in the capital Kampala on Monday.

Child rights groups had criticised Uganda’s decision to keep schools fully or partially shuttered for 83 weeks, longer than anywhere else in the world.