The government has suspended the mass reopening of schools throughout the country. However green light was given only to Grade Four, Class Eight and Form Four students to continue with learning.
This comes after CS for Health Mutahi Kagwe declined to approve the reopening of studies for the remaining students; Grade One, Two, Three, Classes Five, Six and Seven.
The CS for Education prof. George Magoha was expected to release a date for mass reopening after candidates and Grade Four students returned to schools on Monday, October 12.
The Kenya Association of International Schools (KAIS) already postponed mass reopening for their students in line with a directive from the Ministry of Education.
“The ministry has elected to postpone further reopening of other levels for in-person learning as they conduct an audit of this initial phase and iron out a decision model for re-opening schools as needed.
This is due to the spike and second wave of Covid-19 community transmission,” stated KAIS Head of Secretariat Jane Mwangi.
Now it’s back to the drawing board, Magoha and his team have collect enough data and are analyze the trend of COVID-19 spike cases at least two to three weeks before agreeing on the date.
However, stakeholders are worried that a new date may hamper the school calendar issued by Magoha ahead of partial reopening on October 12.
If the trend doesn’t change, students may be forced to sit at home till mid-November or January 2021.
On Thursday, October 22, Kenya recorded the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases.
1,068 people tested positive with the total number of cases since March 13 rising to 47,212.
The ministry is also contemplating directing schools to revert to virtual learning.