The Kenya National Union of Teachers has asked special attention be accorded to candidates in reopening of schools.
A letter by the union to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha proposes that KCPE and KCSE candidates be given priority. The safety of learners and teachers should also be guaranteed.
It wants classroom rearrangement done to allow social distancing which is vital in breaking the coronavirus transmission chain.
The proposals by Knut are similar to calls by secondary school heads who backed a partial reopening of schools with the candidates reporting first.
The letter dated May 8 and signed by Secretary General Wilson Sossion notes that candidates should be allowed back to school to complete the syllabus and prepare for the examination.
However, the examination should be administered only when time is ripe to do so.
Magoha in April announced that despite the disruption of the school calendar, the examinations will not be postponed.
The union wants schools to constitute a technical team that will oversee the daily running of things in the institutions.
The team will consist of parents, teachers, school heads and religious leaders.
As a precaution, the union wants school playgrounds shut when schools reopen, limit nonessential visits, the suspension on school assemblies and congregated meals, provision of personal protective equipment for teaching and non-teaching staff.
The union also cautions against stigma on learners with flu-like symptoms instead asking that response towards such cases be medically addressed.
Knut also wants fumigation of the school compounds and institution blocks before reopening.
The letter also calls for screening of pupils and staff allowed to access the institutions every morning and evening as a preventive measure.
Knut called for training on health regulations on all members of staff that will help stem the spread of coronavirus.
The union is also calling for guidance and counselling from education and health experts to children upon reopening.
This, according to Sossion, is to avoid panic among the learners.
Also, the union also calls for attention to vulnerable children by ensuring the provision of school feeding programmes.
Edited by R.Wamochie
