With at least two weeks before the month-long school closure expires, reports indicate that the lockdown could be extended.
While initially, reports indicated that closure of schools would go on to mid-April, it is now emerging that the period could be extended to the end of April.
The shutdown of learning institutions enters the third week on Monday and top education officials are said to be meeting for a crisis meeting to assess the delicate programmes that could be radically affected by the extended shutdown.
This includes the national examinations; KCPE and KCSE.
The shutdown will next week enter what was meant to be the last week of the first term in the school calendar.
Sources from the Education ministry indicate that the option to extend the lockdown will be to give time to curb the spread of the coronavirus whose infection rate has been on a trajectory since it was first confirmed in the country.
So far, 31 people have been infected, one has died and one recovered.
Over 1,000 others are under surveillance or being tracked for close contact with coronavirus patients.
The dusk-to-dawn curfew is also said to have complicated matters.
President Kenyatta said Kenyans should stay indoors between 7pm and 5am. Only those offering critical or essential services will be excluded from the curfew, he said.
“With the curfew in place, for who knows how long, opening schools in the next two weeks will be hard, but it is enough time to tell how well or badly the country will have controlled the virus then they will give further recommendations,” the source told the Star.
The shutdown has affected 13 million primary and secondary school children.
Another half a million in universities have been affected by the directive.
Edited by R.Wamochie
