Basic Education PS Richard Belio Kipsang' has cautioned against the use of children's homes as learning institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kipsang said converting these homes to schools goes against the government's containment measures and also compromises on social distancing.
"Children's homes remain homes just like the homes in which we are in. It's only that there may be a gathering for a number of children that do not have a fallback of a home,"
The PS said the Ministry of Education has not authorised its officers to allow children's homes to be converted to learning institutions.
"We suspended learning that is physical in nature where there's an interaction between a student and a teacher. We would not want to create a situation that this (coronavirus) will be imported to a learner by a teacher who might be coming from an outside environment," he said.
Kipsang' was speaking on Thursday during parliamentary session with the Departmental Committee on Education.
The committee discussed among other topics, possible reopening of schools.
Kipsang assured members that the ministry is concerned about the resumption as much as the health of learners.
"We can assure you that nothing we are doing now will replace the inter-personal relationships of learners and teachers, and when physical learning resumes, every child will still have an equal opportunity," he said.
"We will ensure that the current coping mechanisms set up, including the e-learning, are not part of our examinations so that none of our children are disadvantaged from lack of accessing the virtual lessons."
