- Kuppet says some learners might take classes outside.
- Teachers warn that more learners might be loitering in the school compound unattended.
Secondary school teachers have requested the government to employ more tutors to meet the social distance instructions as schools reopen on Monday next week.
Teachers in Kiambu county have supported Kuppet secretary general Okello Misori's request to the Teachers Service Commission to employ at least 150,000 and post them across the country.
Misori spoke at Kuppet headquarters in Nairobi during the celebrations of Teachers International Day on Monday.
He said the teaching fraternity was among the worst hit by Covid-19.
Kiambu county tertiary secretary Ben Israel on Tuesday said some schools have between 40 up to 60 students per class. This means, Israel said, some learners will be forced to stay in the field if classrooms were to only accommodate 15 students.
"We are not here to demand but we request the government to look into some issues before opening schools," he said.
He added that they need more teachers to assist schools check on students who will not be in class to ensure compliance with Covid-19 protocols.
"We do not want to put our society at risk. We want to keep all students busy in smaller numbers of 15 so that we can observe social distance," Israel said on the phone.
He further asked the TSC to absorb teachers employed by boards of management in different schools, as well as those looking for jobs.
"There are competent teachers employed by BoM and others who are jobless. If they were employed, and more classrooms built, then we can be assured of safety" he said.
He also asked the government to increase the capitation funds so that schools can add more classrooms.
He said Kirenga Boys Secondary School, for instance, does not have enough classrooms to accommodate the extra smaller groups of students.
"Can you imagine if we go back to school only to find a bigger number of students stranded outside in the field in the morning, midmorning, afternoon and the evening? That will not be fine," he said.
A parent from Nyamweru village in Lari subcounty said the government is not realistic about safety of learners, but only wants to see teachers working.
Philomena Njoki noted that the government should prepare enough by building extra classes for each stream in all primary and secondary schools countrywide.
"You cannot tell parents to take their children to school, teachers to report back to schools, and the structures were not enough to hold the number of students to observe social distance," Njoki said.
Edited by EKibii