•All learners should be ferried to their homes or nearest suitable designation
•All PSVs ferrying students should not pick any other passenger(s) on the way
The Ministry of Education has directed all schools to ferry their students home using their school buses following President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive that learning be suspended in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a circular on Monday morning, Cabinet Secretary George Magoha added that the directive affects buses belonging to boarding and day schools.
“Schools should make arrangements to use school buses to ferry learners to their homes or nearest designated drop-off points which must be within proximate distance to be picked by their parents,” Magoha said.
Schools are also required to liaise with public service vehicles to ensure that matatus boarded by their students are sanitized in accordance with the Ministry of Health recommendations.
“Schools should organize with NTSA licensed public transport providers to pick learners from schools. The vehicles must not carry any other passenger(s) en route,” the circular reads.
Parents who can pick their children from school can also do so following communication from the relevant institutional heads and school principals/headteachers.
As part of preventive efforts against COVID-19, the ministry has urged schools to sensitise learners on maintenance hygiene while en route and at home.
“All learners are asked to keep a conscious record of people they interact with on their way home. These must be recorded for future reference,” the circular says.
Whereas day schools are expected to shut down immediately, boarding institutions are expected to send all their learners home by Wednesday.
Tertiary institutions are also expected to suspend learning by Friday, 20, March 2020.
By Monday morning, the University of Nairobi, Multimedia University of Kenya and the Kenya Methodist University had suspended learning at their campuses in line with President Kenyatta's directive.