Schools cautiously reopen in countries across Africa

More than two months after the suspension of classes due to the coronavirus in most African countries, a number of governments have cautiously started reopening schools and institutions of learning in a bid to return to normalcy, as they loosen restrictions initially introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

In Cameroon, primary and secondary school students in their final year started returning to class on Monday after schools were suspended starting March 18. Pauline Lyonga, the country’s Minister of Secondary Education, said the move to progressively reopen schools will help children catch up on missed lessons and assist parents gradually returning to work.

In Tanzania, universities and high schools also reopened on Monday despite very little information on the exact figures of the spread of the coronavirus in the country. On May 28, Tanzania’s health ministry said school leadership, academies and educational institutions should encourage students, teachers and their staff to wear face masks, ensure soap and water hand-washing stations are available and distancing is observed when schools reopen on June 1.

Unlike other East African countries, Tanzania did not impose a lockdown or night curfews to curb the virus. Instead, it urged its citizens to observe health guidelines and protocols like wearing masks, washing hands regularly and practicing social distancing as they went on with their normal lives.

Among the earliest countries to reopen their schools in Africa is Ivory Coast, which resumed learning on May 25. However, other African countries have decided to postpone the reopening of learning institutions, citing the fact they are not out of the woods yet.

In Senegal, President Macky Sall postponed the reopening of schools initially scheduled for Tuesday to a date yet to be fixed due to coronavirus infections among teachers. On May 11, Sall had announced the easing of lockdown restriction measures such as reopening markets and shops, as well as places of worship and a partial resumption of schools on June 2. However, reports that a number of teachers had tested positive in the country’s southern Ziguinchor region led to the postponement.

In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni said on Monday that the country is not ready for the resumption of classes.

“I had talked about opening schools after June 4, but we have further studied this with the scientists and the eventual decision was to delay. We have 1.4 million children in these candidate classes and finalists. We don’t have enough testing kits for testing those numbers every two weeks,” Museveni said during a televised national address.

In South Africa, the reopening of schools on June 1 was met with protest as parents, teachers and schools’ bodies said the institutions were unprepared to take back students. This resulted in Angie Motshekga, South Africa’s Education Minister, postponing school reopenings to June 8.