Traffic Management: Kampala Schools Urged to Stagger Start Times

In a bid to alleviate the gridlock that paralyzes Kampala during “back-to-school” and “end-of-term” weeks, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Education has released a new transport management plan for educational institutions. The plan mandates that schools within a 15-kilometer radius of the city center stagger their opening and closing times.

Starting next month, primary schools will be required to start their day at 7:30 AM, while secondary schools must delay their start until 8:15 AM. Additionally, boarding schools have been assigned specific “travel days” based on their location to prevent thousands of private vehicles from hitting the Entebbe Road, Jinja Road, and Northern Bypass simultaneously.

“The current situation where every school child in Kampala is on the road at 7:00 AM is unsustainable,” said a KCCA transport officer. “It leads to thousands of man-hours lost in traffic and increased pollution. By staggering these times, we can flatten the peak traffic curve.”

While some parents have expressed concern about the logistics of dropping off children at different times, the Ministry argues that the long-term benefits of a decongested city outweigh the initial inconvenience. Schools are also being encouraged to revive “School Bus” systems to reduce the number of individual private cars entering school gates each morning.