COVID-19 financial distress: 200 private schools put up for sale

EDUCATION   HEALTH   VIRUS

More than 200 private schools have been listed for sale, thanks to COVID-19 lockdown, the chairperson of the national COVID-19 committee of private schools said yesterday.

"Hundreds of schools are on sale across the country and school establishments have been restructured into shops and guesthouses, Joseph Kiggundu said.

Schools were closed in March as a measure to slow the spread of the virus, which has visited untold economic pain across the globe since it broke out in China late last year.

"For schools with loans, interest is increasing and accumulating beyond imagination," Kiggundu said.

Addressing journalists at Kyadondo Rugby grounds in Kampala, Kiggundu said the prolonged closure of schools has made the situation worse, forcing many owners to opt for sale as a means to raise income and meet their obligations.

He said, for the last six months, schools have been rendered redundant.

He said to avoid more schools being sold, the Government should quickly reopen the remaining ones.

Kiggundu said this will mitigate some of the challenges that schools are grappling with.

He said when the school lockdown is eventually lifted, many private schools will not reopen.

Thousands of jobs, he added, will have been lost and some parents will be forced to find alternative schools for their children.

Subsequently, Kiggundu backed the plans for the reopening of schools in phases, starting with candidate classes next month.

He added that the proprietors of private schools are ready to observe the COVID-19 guidelines put in place by the Ministry of Health.

"We appeal to the Government to reopen schools, so that learners, especially candidates and finalists, attend third term, starting October. The Government, through the education ministry and other support agencies, should scale up the dissemination of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) training of school leaders and inspection of schools to speed up the reopening process," he said.

Flanked by other committee members of the private schools association, Kiggundu said the committee submitted its report to State House in July, and asked the Government to study the situation and generate appropriate SOPs.

He said teachers, through different platforms, have been educated on the control and general management of COVID-19.

He said the SOPs for the education sector have been disseminated to all private schools and proprietors are ready to implement them when schools open.

"Many of our members, particularly proprietors of schools and the headteachers, have been trained by the education ministry and are expected to train others in their respective schools. Many schools have already procured and installed the necessary infrastructure required to implement the SOPs," Kiggundu said.

He added that private schools are struggling to meet operational costs and urged the Government to bail them out.

He also called upon the Government to allow teachers access at least 20% of their National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

The committee of private schools called upon the Government to explain how the sh20b advanced to teachers savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS) will be shared.

COVID-19 effects on livelihood

Kiggundu said jobless teachers have taken up odd jobs, like selling chappati by the roadside, working at construction sites, as well as working as house maids, to make ends meet.

He said apart from being unable to earn a salary, private school teachers have been rendered hopeless, with some resorting to suicide or theft, due to depression and worries on how they will fend for their families.

Kiggundu said the continued delay in the reopening of schools has also had its toll on families with many underage girls getting pregnant. He proposed that the Government offers tax holidays to private schools, to enable the owners recover from the impact of COVID-19.