More than 1600 schools not ready for learning
More than 1600 schools not ready for learning
More than 1600 schools not ready for learning
When classes resume in public schools next week as a result of President William Ruto’s order to reopen, a crisis is likely to arise.
It is now known that hundreds of thousands of students may not be able to attend classes on Monday of next week because their school’s infrastructure is still flooded and their classrooms are destroyed.
Following reports that no capitation funds will be sent to schools when they reopen for the second term on Monday, The Standard has also revealed that tensions between government officials and school administrators are once again building.
Ezekiel Machogu, the cabinet secretary for education, stated on Thursday that just 5% of schools are not prepared for reopening. “After conducting an evaluation in every one of our schools, we found that over 95% of them are prepared for reopening, with less than 5% severely impacted,” Machogu stated.
This implies that at least 1,649 of the 32,878 public primary and secondary schools in the nation will close. According to Prof. Machogu, these include schools where students may face significant difficulties as a result of collapsing restrooms and other essential facilities.
Interior PS Raymond Omollo stated that about 2,000 schools are still impacted by the floods while speaking in Bungoma. The schools are dispersed across 21 counties, he said. “The impact on nearly 2,000 schools has been severe. PS Omollo stated, “We have put in place sufficient procedures to allow our students to seamlessly continue their education.
According to Machogu, the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) will provide Sh1 billion for the repair of the schools’ damaged infrastructure.
Also affected are seven primary schools and three secondary schools currently being used as settlement camps for displaced families. For these schools, the CS says they are working with the Ministry of Interior to relocate the families to allow for the institutions to reopen.
“We want to reassure parents that their children will be safe when they get back to school,” Machogu said.
However, because there is no clear guidance on how day school students will be protected to and from schools, confusion will only increase upon the reopening of the schools.
The CS stated that schools are responsible for conducting their own independent assessments of the situation and providing mitigations before deciding whether to implement measures for day school students.
The payment of capitation, however, presents another challenge to reopening. Headteachers criticized Machogu for saying that capitation money for this term had already been sent by the end of the first term, despite his claims that parents would receive a reprieve from school fees with flexible payment plans.
Machogu said schools should utilise monies sent to the institutions just before the end of first term. “We released money to schools at the beginning of first term, 25 per cent and at the end of the term we also released another 25 per cent… I’m sure (the latter) has not been put to use in some of these schools and they will start with that,” the CS said.
Machogu spoke at Karen C secondary school while assessing the preparedness to reopen learning institutions.
The heads contended that funds released at the conclusion of the first term have already been applied to past-due salaries for non-teaching staff and debt repayment.
The Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association chairman, Johnson Nzioka, predicts a dire situation in which schools struggle to operate in the lack of funding.
“School heads should have capitalization for the second term like they did yesterday in order to prepare the learning environments, buy cleaning supplies, and clean up the overgrown areas in the compounds that occurred over the holidays,” Nzioka stated.
Machogu instructed the community and the board of management to decide on mitigation measures at their discretion for students who must cross swollen rivers.
“We have notified the impacted schools’ Board of Management to exercise caution so that we can be certain our kids are safe when they return home and to school,” Machogu stated.
Additionally, the ministry announced plans to modify the dates of the second term, potentially shortening the August break to make up for time lost during the prolonged closure of schools, according to CS Machogu.
The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination schedule won’t change, though.
“We may reduce the number of days that schools are closed so that whatever was supposed to be covered in the syllabus can be recovered during that time,” Machogu stated. “Schools are expected to close in August for three weeks.”
