The ministry has every plan to ensure schools are reopened soon. Among the reopening plans set by the Ministry of Education is the allocation of Ksh1.9 billion.Ksh1 billion to be used to make lockers and chairs for public secondary schools.The remaining Sh900 million will be used to make desks for primary schools.
The CS for Education directed all County Directors of Education to ensure some 622,000 desks, lockers and chairs are made and delivered to schools by October 19.
Each of the selected primary schools will receive 70 desks, while secondary schools will get 50 lockers and chairs.
Primary and secondary Schools were further directed to erect tents to create additional space for learning.Students will also be taught under available sheds in the compound.
Boarding schools were tasked to convert spacious dining halls into dormitories to ease congestion in the hostels.
However Prof. Magoha’s reopening plan seemed to favour the secondary and primary schools and neglected the pre-primary schools. The ministry has not released any single reopening plan for the pre-primary schools.
The data of Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KEBS) shows that, Kenya has a total of 28,383 public pre-primary institutions and 18,147 private pre-primary institutions, a making a total of 46,430 pre-primary schools in Kenya.
The pre-primary institutions have not got much attention from the government quest to re-open learning institutions amid Covid-19 pandemic.
These children are vulnerable to the covid-19 disease. Furthermore, they have been affected with multiple stress, exploitation, exposure to violence, physical and psychological health risks. Proper measures are to be put in place before they resume school.
It’s high time the CS of education reconsider the pre-schools and factor in measures that will help control the spread of Corona Virus to the young ones when schools open.