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East and Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes Region Education– Regional Overview, October – December 2020

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Status of school reopenings across the region

In March 2020, with the exception of Burundi, nearly all schools in East and Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes (EHAGL) region were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya,
Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan Tanzania and Uganda). An estimated 1.1 million refugee children and youth were unable to physically attend classes in school. Between October-December 2020, five countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda) partially re-opened schools starting with the examination classes. The partial re-opening provided the litmus test on whether it was possible to have students return to school while ensuring the risk of COVID-19 infections at school were minimized.

• On 5 October 2020, South Sudan, reopened examination classes only. The Government released a circular providing direction on how schools would be partially re-opened observing COVID-19 guidelines. Prior to this, the Ministry of General Education ensured that all education partners in the country were sensitized on COVID-19 guidelines and had prepared schools accordingly. Phase 2 of school re-opening for South Sudan is planned for April 2021.

• On 12 October 2020, Kenya opened three grades only, grade 4 & 8 in primary schools and form 4 in secondary schools. Universities and colleges were also allowed to resume classes.
This partial re-opening was considered phase 1, with phase 2 scheduled for January 2021. Prior to school reopening, Kenya held several education stakeholder consultation meetings. Public debates including education experts, parents and the public were also conducted. The Government further developed a COVID-19 school reopening guideline that was broadly shared with key stakeholders. Education officials were trained and teachers recalled to schools in advance to make final preparations for the reopening. UNHCR used the time of school closures to renovate and build additional classrooms, latrines and hand washing stations in the camp schools to adhere to national guidelines ahead of phase 2.

• On 15 October 2020, Uganda started phased re-opening with examination classes only. The Government released COVID-19 guidelines to all education stakeholders ahead of the re-eopning.

• On 2 November 2020, Rwanda commenced their gradual reopening of primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher learning. Even as the students returned to school, the Government of Rwanda continued to deliver distance learning programs to enhance and improve the quality of education for the learners.

• In early November, Ethiopia started the gradual re-opening of classes with some locations opening grade 8 and 12, while other locations started learning programmes with lower grades. The Ministry of Education put in place school re-opening guidelines. The guidelines were implemented by the Region Education Bureaus (REBs) in the country and applied by all partners supporting education in the country.