• Unicef and the World Health Organization advise that schools can safely reopen when the infection rate is six per cent and below.
• In the recent two weeks, positivity has staggered at around 15 per cent.
Image: CHARLENE MALWA
Schools are expected to reopen on May 10, but the plan could now be scuttled by the high Covid-19 infection rate.
The possibility of postponement has been occasioned by advisories that the rate of infection surpasses the recommended minimum that is safe for learning resumption.
The Star has established that the Health and Education ministries are considering a plan that could see the reopening pushed back by two weeks to give time to the efforts to contain the virus.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha in April said the schools calendar will not be affected. He said reopening date for the third term would be May 10 as had been planned but added that that would be guided by scientific advice.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe last week said that the government was monitoring the infection rate and would advise on school reopening based on scientific counsel.
Unicef and the World Health Organization advise that schools safely reopen when the infection rate is six per cent or below. In the recent two weeks, however, positivity has staggered at around 15 per cent.
The big question is whether the remaining time will allow the country to reach the recommended rate. The fact that children don’t get very ill was used to push for school reopening, but the current third wave creates uncertainty.
Low severity among infected children can encourage delays in care-seeking until it is too late.
In its strategy to keep schools opened, the government had planned to have all teachers receive the first dose of vaccination before schools reopen on May 10.
This would allow them to conduct face-to-face learning and comfortably interact with learners where need be.
But only 106,000 teachers, an equivalent of 31 per cent, had taken the vaccine by the last week of April, according to the Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Task Force.
The total population of teachers stands at 387,000. This means over 70 per cent of the workforce has yet to be inoculated.
President Uhuru Kenyatta directed all teachers get the vaccine.
Dr Richard Ayah, a member of the Covid task force, said the country received enough doses for all frontline workers, but there was hesitancy among some groups.
“It could be many of them are young people who feel secure and since the vaccine is voluntary they don’t see the need. But to protect others, we encourage them to get vaccinated,” he told the Star.
Dr Ayah said 67 per cent of all health workers have been vaccinated.
Also putting a hurdle on the reopening plan are the orders that extended the curfew hours and restricted movement into and out of five most-at-risk counties.
Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, in a Gazette notice, announced the extension of curfew hours in the disease-infected zone covering Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Nakuru and Machakos until May 29.
“This order shall apply during the hours of darkness between 8pm and 4am with effect from March 29, 2021, and shall remain in effect for 60 days thereof,” reads the revised Gazette notice.
The indefinite decision to restrict any movement into and out of the counties mapped for the rapid spread was not reviewed, meaning no movement will be allowed. The two orders now create a puzzle on how learners will return to school in May.
Nicholas Maiyo, the Kenya Parents Association chairman, said that beyond the permits, parents should anticipate an extra cost of returning their children to school. The changes will mostly revolve around logistics on the reporting day, he said.
Maiyo wants transport companies contracted and put on standby if learning is to resume in May. He further called for fares control. He said schools must prioritise safe transportation of learners.
“We ask the government to intervene and ensure transport companies do not use this opportunity to exploit parents through exorbitant fares,” Maiyo said.
Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai on Thursday said the capacity of PSVs to ferry people into and out of the infected zone has been reduced.
Kimutai told parents to expect severe pressure when learners return to school, urging that they book early to avoid delays should movement restrictions remain in force.
"Long delays by buses and matatus should be expected. Also, some passengers could have a hard time on certain routes that do not have so many matatus plying," he told the Star on the phone.
Edited by Henry Makori