School in the capital City of South Sudan Juba are still waiting for official communications from the Ministry of Education in order to resume classes in early October.
The government gave an order for the reopening on schools in the country after six months of lockdown because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Despite the directive to open schools in the country, learning institutions still remain closed, two weeks after the announcement.
Speaking to our reporter head teacher of Munuki Primary School, Joseph Wunyi said his school remained closed because they are still waiting for official communication from the national ministry of education on the resumption of learning institutions.
He added his school is ready to resume full operations once given the go ahead by the national ministry.
“Currently the school is only open for cleanliness, We are making sure that our school is clean as we wait for the official circular on school calendar from the ministry of education,” the head teacher explained.
Mr. Wunyi mentioned that the school has already set up plans on how to operate safely without endangering the learners’ health due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Acting Head teacher of JCC Primary school, Rose Kiden said they are eagerly waiting for the official announcement to allow schools to open.
Ms. Kiden added that they have install washing facilities in front of all the classes for children to continually was their hands in order not to contract the virus.
Some of the pupils who spoke to our reporter were very happy with the news of the re-opening of schools.
They said staying home for so long is very dangerous because many of their friends ended up pregnant and some of them forgot what was taught at school.
The pupils mentioned that the past six months have been difficult for them because they wasted a lot of time without learning.
The government shutdown all learning institutions across the country in March as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this week, two United Nations agencies have welcomed the decision by the government to re-open schools in the country.
UNICEF and UNESCO said the reopening will happen in phases. Phase one will include the candidate classes, Primary 8 and Senior 4, and it will start in the first week of October 2020.
Together with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF, UNESCO and the education partners have made a plan for a safe re-opening of schools in the country.
The plan included improved water provision to schools, repair of water Infrastructure, soap distribution, hand washing stations and sanitary kits.
The students and the teachers will also be provided with washable face Masks. Social mobilizers will be raising awareness on the re-opening of schools and encouraging parents to send their children to school.
Phase two will include all schools and grades and will coincide with the start of the academic year in February 2021.
“The longer children stay out of school, the harder it is to get them back to the classrooms,” they said.
