• Rasanga said the country will have no future after Covid-19 if the young generation is infected.
• Teachers in both public and private institutions reported to schools on Monday
Image: Lameck Barasa.
Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga has welcomed President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision not to re-open schools before the Covid-19 curve is flattened.
Like the head of state, Rasanga said nobody should gamble with the lives of school-going children.
He said it was wise for President Kenyatta not to put the lives of students at risk by re-opening schools to catch up with the syllabus.
The head of state on Monday directed Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to issue a reviewed 2020 academic calendar once the stakeholders agreed on how schools will re-open.
Teachers in both public and private institutions reported to schools on Monday to identify the loopholes and ways of sealing them ahead of the much-anticipated re-opening.
“The lives of our children and their health are not a matter of debate,” the President declared and urged Kenyans not to focus “on when the schools will re-open but how they will reopen in a manner that will guarantee the safety of learners.”
Rasanga called for patience as the government formulates well-structured mechanisms of ensuring learners are safe when the schools re-open.
He said the country will have no future after Covid-19 if the young generation is infected.
"Coronavirus is real and a right-thinking leader cannot wish away the virus and resume business, ignoring the advisory of the World Health Organisation."
The governor, who talked to the Star by phone, asked Siaya residents to continue observing Ministry of Health guidelines on Covid-19.
He cautioned that extending curfew hours and reopening of bars should not be the licence to flout health guidelines.
"The President wants all and sundry to be responsible while carrying on their daily businesses. That's why he has regulated curfews hours."
Rasanga told parents to be responsible and ensure their children uphold good morals and are in safe hands to avoid early pregnancies.
"It will be a burden to parents and the government at large if by the time schools reopen there will be a high number of early pregnancies," he said.
His wife Rosella has initiated awareness programmes aimed at curbing early pregnancies in the county.
She travels across the county encouraging girls to abstain from sex and concentrate on their studies. She also donates sanitary towels.
More than 5,000 students benefit from sanitary towels and sex abstention messages.
- mwaniki fm