Students will not be allowed to handle hand sanitisers :Magoha

The government will not allow large quantities of hand sanitisers in schools, Education CS George Magoha has said.

The CS said that only about five litres of sanitizers will be allowed in school compounds and will only be handled by teachers.

The CS who spoke at Kiangochi primary school on Saturday while inspecting its preparedness said hand sanitisers have over 70 per cent alcohol content and might be misused by students.

“Our children are very creative and we all know what they may do with it. We will not allow over five litres of sanitisers to go into schools," Magoha said.

He continued that "Quantity of sanitisers should only be handled by teachers for the purpose of general school population when in public places".

He also noted that the government has procured over 7 million masks that will be issued to children from disadvantaged students.

The masks have been produced by the National Youth Service (NYS) and Rivatex through syndicated efforts between the Ministry of education and Ministry of Health, and partners such as UNICEF and the Kenya Commercial Bank.

According to Magoha, face masks will be part of uniforms and no child will be allowed back in school without them.

 “The government is ready to ensure that any child that genuinely requires masks acquires some because they will be mandatory and will be part of their school uniform,” he added.

He pointed out that the masks are ready for disbursement and that the beneficiaries will be put in a database.

Magoha however, noted that despite disgruntlement from a section of stakeholders, most parents have procured masks as they prepare their children for the school re-opening.

“Some people have been saying that procuring of masks by parents is a big challenge but it was not a problem when the first three classes re-opened three months ago and will not be now."

He advised parents who are unable to buy surgical masks to acquire a pair of three-layered cloth masks for each child.

Magoha further noted that private schools will only be allowed to re-open if the number of children in a particular class conforms to the number of children in public schools.

Students from private schools that will not be able to re-open due to infrastructural challenges will be absorbed in public schools in accordance with the Ministry’s guidelines.

“We will consider their marks. In any case, every student received admission letters from a public school but we realize that some received admission from far-flung schools and will be absorbed in nearby institutions."

The CS also added that Sh4 billion funds meant for free primary education will be in schools’ accounts by Tuesday while secondary schools will receive their share of Sh14.6 billion a few days later.

“Sh7 billion stimulus package proposed by private schools to help them conform to the government’s guidelines will be considered and addressed when time is conducive."