10-day Christmas break for learners, teachers

Parents and candidates have been thrown into a rush against time after the government announced resumption of classes starting next Monday.

Given the harsh economic times occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, parents will have to tighten their belts to pay fees within the short notice as the institutions roar back to life after seven months of closure.

Nearly two million Kenyans have been rendered jobless since March when the pandemic hit the country, with many employers forced to close shop.

With parents now required to release children back to school from next Monday, they are staring at huge costs to guarantee learners' safety in institutions with little money in their accounts.

However, it will be double expenditure for families as the majority of children will remain at home as their peers go back to class under a phased reopening plan.

In a shocking move that caught parents and candidates off guard, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha directed all KCPE and KCSE candidates to report back to school on Monday.

The CS defended the move, saying it was in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive and followed broad-based education stakeholders consultations.

Also to return to school will be learners in Grade 4, the pioneer class of the new education curriculum that was rolled out by the government in 2018.

The learners return to school two weeks after teachers reported to put in place various Ministry of Health measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The phased reopening for Grade 4, Class 8 and Form 4 learners means six other classes in primary school as well as three in secondary will have to wait a bit longer before knowing when they will resume face-to-face learning.

This year's national examinations will also be altered by Magoha's order, with the KCPE tests set to be done from March 22-24, 2021.

The 2020 KCSE candidates will sit their exams between March 25 and April 16 next year after the government unveiled a crash academic calendar.

Marking of the KCSE exams will be for three weeks from April 19 to May 7, 2021.

In the radical changes, the government has scrapped the usual midterm breaks that would have seen learners interrupt studies for a week this term.

The second term holiday has been shortened and will now run between December 23, 2020 and January 3, 2021.

Traditionally, second term runs for 14 weeks while third term goes for nine weeks but in the sweeping changes, the two terms will each run for 11 weeks.

On Tuesday, Magoha said his ministry will work closely with the Health ministry to continuously monitor adherence to the guidelines in order to determine when to reopen for all other learners in primary and secondary schools.

“The Ministry of Education will immediately issue a comprehensive circular on reopening of all public and private schools,” he said.

He said the government had already met the full costs of KCPE and KCSE examinations for all candidates and therefore there should be no cause for alarm among parents.

At the centre of the challenges facing schools is lack of funds following the government's delayed release of capitation, with stakeholders warning that this would hamper preparedness.

When children get back to school, there will be mandatory use of face masks, monitoring of the body temperature for all learners, staff and all other persons accessing the schools.

There will also be mandatory hand washing and observance of high levels of hygiene. Where there is no running water, schools will use sanitiser.

Learners will also be required to observe physical distancing.

The government announced that while physical distancing might be a challenge, it should not be used as an excuse to bar learners from school.

As the ministry ordered the resumption of studies, parents protested at the short notice.

The National Parents Association chair Nicholas Maiyo told the Star that parents were financially strained to prepare children back to school.

“I have parents who are calling me, complaining that the government has reopened schools too early and they are not prepared,” Maiyo said.

He warned school heads against trying to levy fees on parents who had already paid second term fees before schools were closed prematurely in March.

“The fees guidelines still stand and parents should not be required to pay fees again,” he said.

According to Maiyo, they were shocked at the ministry's decision to reopen schools next week despite their initial proposals to have learners back to school in January.

Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion welcomed the move by Education CS to reopen schools, saying the move was for the good of learners.

“The government has done the right thing because schools should have reopened like yesterday,” Sossion said.

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers said it supported the reopening of schools, saying it was in tandem with the recommendation of National Education Response Committee.

“We also demand immediate release of capitation funds to schools to help them develop mechanisms of coping with Covid-19,” said Kuppet secretary general Akello Misori.

In a statement, Misori asked the government to ensure it provides learners with reusable face masks and provide improved sanitation facilities such as running water and storage tanks.

Kenya Private Schools Association chief executive Peter Ndoro said that private institutions have no problem with the school re opening dates.

“We completely have no problem with the school reopening dates. It is a good move by the Ministry of Education and we are welcoming the whole idea,” Ndoro said.

The reopening order by the CS puts institutions in a transition crisis.

Those sitting KCPE exams will be required to report to secondary school soon afterwards.

This could mean two Form One classes in 2021.

In July, CS George Magoha argued that the ministry had shelved earlier plans to reopen in September in preference for January to avoid having two Form One cohorts.

Edited by Henry Makori