KAMPALA – The government has officially banned nursery schools and kindergartens from operating daycare centres, marking a reform aimed at protecting young learners.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The landmark Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy directive draws a firm line between early learning and childcare, following years of health pressure and a national tragedy.
Reliable sources believe that the ban was accelerated by a fatal attack at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Centre in Ggaba Parish, Makindye Division, Kampala.
On April 2, 2026, four toddlers aged 1.5 to 3 years, Eteku Gideon, Kaise Alungat, Ignatius Sserwange, and Ryan Odeke, were brutally killed by suspect Okello Christopher Onyum (39) using knives at the facility in Ggaba.
The tragic attack exposed severe safety loopholes in centres that mix prolonged daycare custody with early education, prompting urgent government action.
Meanwhile, experts had raised red flags over a silent crisis: a rising number of nursery school children developing mental health challenges linked to excessive academic pressure and long school hours.
Data presented earlier by Butabika Hospital suggests toddlers are being pushed far beyond their cognitive and emotional capacity by being kept confined for extended hours under the guise of daycare.
Rev. James Awany, an Early Childhood Development specialist, has long warned against this model, stating that nursery learners should spend limited hours in school focusing on play and basic interaction, not heavy classroom workload.
Under the new ECCE policy, schools must separate academic nursery programs from any form of paid childcare, while facilities wishing to offer daycare must register under a different, stricter regulatory framework.
Additionally, safety and maximum-hour laws will be enforced through regular inspections to ensure compliance across all early childhood centres.
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