Government threatens to de-register teachers who refuse to receive Covid-19 jab

The chairperson of the Ministry of Education Covid-19 response task team, Mulindwa Ismail has threatened to de-register all teachers who have refused to get the Covid-19 jab.

In an interview with NBS TV, Mulindwa said that the ministry cannot continue to put lives of learners at risk with teachers who have not been vaccinated.

“We are soon going to advise and say, if you are not vaccinated, then don’t interact with learners. It puts you and our learners at risk,” Mulindwa said.

“If the country reaches this decision, we will not be compromised by anyone. If you look at the numbers, we have not received many cases because we have been strict.”

The Ministry of Education’s decision comes days after a tracking report by the Ministry of Health revealed that out of the 500,000 targeted teachers, only 7000 have been vaccinated so far.

Covid-19 vaccination in Uganda was launched on March 10th 2021, when government released a list of essential workers who were supposed to benefit from the first batch of Covid-19 vaccination.

The exercise targeted high-risk groups that included health workers, teachers and the elderly.

Tracking the progress of the vaccination a month later, a report from the Health ministry pointed out that the vaccination uptake is still low due to stereotypes, accessibility and low sensitisation of the population especially in rural areas.

The decision from the Education Ministry however contradicts with the World Health Organisation’s policies of not making the vaccination mandatory.

The ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine said that teachers should not be forced to take up vaccination since it is their health but she urged them to get vaccinated because it is for their own benefit.

But the teachers under their umbrella association of Federation of Non-State Education Institutions (FENEI) said government should make the communication clear, not through circulars and threats.

"There should be programmes because this is a matter of life and teachers have a right to life and to know what vaccination they are getting," said Patrick Kaboyo, the secretary of FENEI.