The Senators wants the Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha to put to an end on his earlier plans of pushing reopening of schools to January 2021. Dr. Milgo Alice Chepkorir who is the Chairperson of the Committee on Education in the Senate on Tuesday, July 21, presented recommendations from the Committee in the floor of the house.
The Education Committee of the Senate, recommended the following;
- The CS of Education to begin a phased reopening of all primary and secondary schools in this year, to allow a division of the classes into smaller groups.
- Priority should be given to the national examinations classes, KCPE and KCSE, so that they can continue with syllabus coverage and prepare for examinations.
- Students to be taught the following extra topics; epidemic prevention, health care maintenance and how to respond to emergency drills on resumption.
- Frequent cleaning and hand-washing (done twice in a day).
- Prohibition of usual morning meetings and parades.
- Cancellation of all sporting activities and field trips.
- All members of staff (teachers and support staffs) and learners should always wear face masks.
- Desks and other work stations should be spaced six feet apart.
However, the Senate recommendations come in the backdrop of increased cases of covid-19 infections in the country. The country is experiencing a spike in COVID 19 daily infections.
The CS pushed the reopening of schools to January 2021, for fear of infection and transmission of CORONA Virus to the learners. He cited poor state of infrastructure in schools that cannot guarantee social distancing among learners.
The twisting nature of infections paints a grim picture in the proposal to have the schools reopened; considering the sorry state of facilities in most public schools that are otherwise congested.
