The Ministry of Education has released guidelines that answer most questions regarding the remaining school calendar.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, schools were the first casualties for obvious reasons. The Government’s decision to close all schools one fateful weekend took everyone off-guard but no one was surprised. 

The Government exhibited some organizational flair by arranging transport for all primary and secondary students all over the country almost without a hitch. What remained then was how to keep the students busy. Some enterprising people introduced educational apps, the same as Rwanda Education Board.

But that was just a stop-gap measure for the time being as the situation was still being assessed. Now schools are not expected to reopen before September.

The Coronavirus crisis actually played into the hands of the Government which had been in the process of rescheduling the academic year back to the September-June calendar after a lot of lobbying, especially from the Catholic Church which runs the majority of schools in the country.

The logic behind the rescheduling of the school calendar was to keep students out of school during the hot and dry season as the uncomfortable weather made it difficult to concentrate. Now COVID-19 has made the Government’s plans fall into place and the academic year will be beginning in September.

In the meantime, students will just have to stay put and do with what is available online or on the airwaves even though they cannot replace a teacher in class. But, as we have pointed out since the outbreak of the pandemic, we are living in extraordinary times which need extraordinary measures, one of which is to adapt.