Several African countries reopened their schools on Monday 12th October after more than seven months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In Rwanda, the reopening of schools came after the conclusion of a proper assessment in September which was a joint effort of the Education Ministry in partnership with the Higher Education Council.
The two agencies inspected 29 universities and several other higher education institutions to ascertain their readiness to resume academic activities.
“We are ready to start teaching and learning with respect to the safety protocols. We have installed posters and screens at different corners of the campus, demonstrating how to behave to contain the spread of coronavirus while in the classrooms and other university premises,” Callixte Kabera, the rector of the University of Tourism Technology and Business Studies in Kigali the Rwandan capital, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
As for the secondary and primary schools, their reopening have been scheduled for November.
As at Sunday the 11th of October, the recorded coronavirus cases in Rwanda had risen to 4,896 with total number of deaths reaching 31, and 3,606 recoveries. The number of new cases which the Ministry of Health reported daily has dropped nationwide.
In neighbouring Kenya, after six months of schools closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the doors have also been reopened on Monday for students in 4th and 8th grades as well as for those in the final year of secondary school.
The phased reopening of different sectors of the countries comes amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases reported in the East African country by its Health Ministry.
As for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Education Minister Didier Budimbu told the UN-run Radio Okapi that the reopening of schools marks the start of the school year for 2020-2021, which takes effect from Oct. 12 throughout the country.