The First Lady who also doubles as the Minister of Education Janet Kataha Museveni has assured teachers that they will be paid their salaries even though there is a nationwide lockdown over the Coronavirus pandemic.

While answering questions from readers on her personal Facebook page, all government teachers are being paid their salaries.

Below are some of the questions the minister answered:

1. Question by UCU Student – Please be informed that there is a difference between online exams and take-home exams. UCU is giving take home exams which in a layman’s understanding is known as homework and the only difference is that it will be submitted Online. The university was going to give each student 3Gb of internet data to facilitate submission of the take home and carry out research. By the time the school was closed, we had completed 95% of our semester and we were only waiting for Exams. You cancelled this take home while considering the “poor” but now my question is, did you put in consideration the transport fare these students will have to incur just to come back for the exams? How about accommodation for that period and other expenses.

Reply: I know that 95% of the work was done but the exams were yet to be done. And YES we have cancelled the take home exams because we must consider everybody including the poor as you say. Your question was whether I considered the transport fare it would take to come back just “for exams”. Yes, I did consider everything and yes I believe for you to come back alive, healthy and safe to do your exams is not “just for exams”. It is something you should be grateful to do and consider that all the people rich and poor should thank God to be able to come back to finish their course. The God who paid for your course, and kept you safely so you may defeat the corona virus pandemic will help you come back for the exams, I trust.

2. International students – You do not include arrangements for international students who might have gone back to their countries; will they be allowed back in the country to continue with studies after the 32 days? If yes, will they be placed under quarantine for a certain period of time as other students are already in school.

Reply: Once we are out of this crisis and our schools and Tertiary Institutions open, appropriate measures will be put in place to ensure International Students settle in.

3. Professional Teacher – I totally oppose learning over Radios and TVs because it only benefits minority students from well-off families. Let us wait until we are back to normal.

Reply: I totally agree with you and that is why we have not up until now brought delivery of learning through TV or radio to the fore front, because we know very well how more of our learners would be left behind. And we are a National Government Education sector which prefers to ensure education for all.

4. Why among all servants is the Government considering withholding teachers’ salaries?

Reply: I don’t know who told you that Government is considering withholding teachers’ salaries because I did not talk about it and as far as I know all our teachers are being paid their salaries.

5. I wish all schools buy Covid-19 temperature testing equipment, boarding schools are too crowded, what new measures are in place?

Reply: When schools re-open we will have been reassured by Min of Health that it is safe for our children to go back to school, otherwise, that is why we closed the schools, because at that time there was reason to worry and that is why you are still at home.

6. Are the weekend tests that are mostly done by candidate classes in some schools not allowed?

Reply: We at the Ministry of Education and Sports guided that all the time left in the last part of first term should be utilized for study. That is why my statement guided all the schools to do exactly that. Tests worry the students and take up a lot of the time they need to catch up with their work.

7. Why don’t we let pre-primary out of this opening until Term 2?

Reply: We will cross that bridge when we get there.

8. How sure are you that the pandemic shall have passed?

Reply: I am not sure and that is the reason I said that if things don’t go according to our Plan, then I would come back to talk to you about our Plan b.

9. What of sports competitions, will they proceed from where they had stopped?

Reply: We will inform you about sports when the time is right, for now though, you can keep up with exercise at home.

10. Won’t the proposed tentative dates of schools’ reopening mislead the public and result in laxity regarding compliance to safety measures as schools prepare to reopen?

Reply: The proposed dates of schools re-opening cannot mislead the public. We are all concerned about our children’s safety, we will therefore, be observing and the decision to re-open schools will be made when Government is confident that all is well. Please trust us.

11. Why didn’t the President lead this address to the nation as he was doing for health, transport, trade, security, economy etc?

Reply: The President had other work to do that day and so I did my work.