By JOHNSON KANAMUGIRE

More by this Author

Parents could be forced to dig deeper into their pockets when schools open as learning institutions put in place infrastructure required to comply with Covid-19 safety protocols.

According to schools heads, the additional costs that will be passed on to parents are associated with implementing safety guidelines to facilitate schools to reopen.

While a definite date has not been set for school reopening, entrepreneurs in the education sector told Rwanda Today that their operating costs are going up as they try to comply with safety protocols.

Schools have proposed to the government to at least double the allocation per student to Rwf3,360 per school term in the new academic calendar from Rwf1,215. If not, parents will be expected to bridge the funding shortfall.

Additional costs include setting up adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities as well as infrastructure expansion needed for social distancing.

They indicate that directives around spacing students in classrooms, dormitory and dining halls alone required a huge budget added to spending on construction of handwashing stations and having them connected with piped water.

The Covid-19 safety protocols also require schools to purchase thermal scanners for temperature checks, as well as recruiting personnel to enforce safety rules in and around schools’ compounds.

A major concern for schools is huge expenses associated with frequent disinfection of surfaces including buildings.

“We are yet to calculate exactly how much we are going to spend, but estimates show it is way above our wage bill of Rwf10 million. The only chance we have is that we are a day school so that will spare us some costs ,” Pie Sebakiga, head of Saint Joseph Integrated Technical College, a private school based in Nyamirambo told Rwanda Today.

For the school to absorb the additional costs associated with safety guidelines, it needs a subsidy of at least Rwf50 million.

For public schools, the ongoing classroom expansion will help address spacing issues though they have also expressed concern over lack of funding to implement the required Covid-19 safety protocols.

“It is expensive for schools that entirely depend on the capitation grant... This calls for additional packages to cover these costs otherwise it will be impossible to make the school environment safe for the children,” argued Jean Claude Sewase, head teacher at GS Busanza of Kicukiro District.

“That’s the minimum to enable the school to at least cover costs such as water bills, soap and hire additional staff to enforce the health guidelines. That means allocation per student per year will rise to Rwf10,100 from Rwf4,250 and the funds have to be timely disbursed,” said Mr Sewase, adding that the government is yet to respond to the request.

A section of school head teachers alluded to the fact that failure to secure funding would imply that parents are compelled to foot the bill.

The sentiments are shared with the private schools' heads who indicate that without parents’ intervention, many could fail the compliance test thereby risking remaining shut.

Educationists expressed concerns that the likely hike in fees by schools could see parents already faced with financial hardships after the pandemic impacted incomes, fail to send children back to school.

The education ministry officials did not comment on the matter by press time, but Rwanda Today learnt that all schools were undergoing assessment to confirm their suitability for reopening should learning resume at a date yet to be determined.

Minister for State for Primary and Secondary education Gaspard Twagirayezu had told education sector joint review team that schools’ preparedness for reopening was still a challenge citing inadequate hygienic infrastructure to keep healthy once they go back to school.