The Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni has released the 2022 school calendar at the 28th Education and Sports Sector review event at Kololo airstrip in Kampala.

According to the calendar, Primary, secondary technical and community polytechnics will open and start operations on 10th January 2022 for a 14-week first term.

The second term will begin on 9th May 2022 and will run unto 12th August 2022 while the third term is set for 5th September 2022 to 9th December 2022.

The students will also get a 3 week holiday period between the first and second terms, and a 7 week holiday between the 3rd term and 2023’s first term.

In her communication, Minister Museveni announced that all learners of 2020 who were not in candidate classes will be automatically promoted to the next class.

“Remedial classes will be offered to them in the first term to help them catch up,” Minister Museveni says.

Museveni also clarified that parents of Senior two students who had fully paid school fees before the second lockdown will not pay fees for the first term.

This raises the question of what will happen to parents who paid institutions that are now closed. In her address, Mrs Museveni said that government will not be able to provide financial relief to private schools.

“Owners are encouraged to take advantage of COVID-19 relief measures that have been offered by various agencies,” Mrs Museveni says.

In her address, Museveni acknowledged the challenges the sector and its stakeholders faced during the COVID-19 period.

“The long closure of schools has adversely affected our young girls who have fallen victim to defilement, teenage pregnancies and child marriages. Our schools especially the Private schools may not be able to reopen due to financial stress,” Mrs Museveni says.

Schools in Uganda have been closed since March 2020 when President Museveni announced the first lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This kept millions of Primary and secondary students at home. The move to keep schools closed for a prolonged period of time has been blamed for challenges faced by students especially the girl-child. In the past year, cases of teenage pregnancies and girl-child abuse have risen in Uganda.

In November 2021, President Museveni announced that schools, and the rest of the economy will be opened up in January 2022