Following the increasing spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, GEMS Cambridge International School, Kampala (CIK) has announced that it will close its operations in the country this December.
According to Riz Ahmed ,the Chief Executive Officer, GEMS Africa, the institution has been faithfully serving its community of students, parents and staff since the school opened in 2013. “During this period, we have continuously looked to raise the quality of education and opportunities for our students and we feel very fortunate to have educated hundreds of students over the past seven years,” he said.
Ahmed however, said they can’t move on with the normal programmes since the pandemic is continuing to affect families, businesses and whole industries around the world and their institution is no exception. “The pandemic and the resulting uncertainties have proved exceptionally testing, and our enrollment numbers have been severely impacted as well as our ability to sustain our operations, despite our best efforts,”he said.
As a result of these circumstances, Ahmed said they have been forced to make some very difficult decisions. “It is with great sadness that I am writing to advise you that CIK will close after the first term of the new academic year, with 31 December 2020 as a tentative closure date,”he noted in a statement.
He said the decision made may cause significant disruption to parents and the students at large but the school will do whatever it takes to lessen the impact and ensure the upcoming transition is as smooth and seamless as possible.
“We welcome our students to remain with us through term 1 with the option of enrolling in the remote learning offering at Hillcrest International School in Nairobi, Kenya either now or at the start of term 2,” he said.
Ahmed urged his staff to continue working and serving the school through until its closure date. “For the remainder of your employment and during your notice period, you will be paid at the full rate of your salary, as per your employment contract,” he noted.