The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has urged parents to be calm as the Ministry of Health prepares to fully reopen schools.
In an interview on Citizen TV on Wednesday morning, November 4, Sossion stated that Grade 4, Class 8 and Form 4 students should remain in schools despite Covid-19 breaking out in learning institutions.
The Nominated MP’s remarks came a day after 52 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) candidates at Kolanya Boys High School in Busia County tested positive for Covid-19.
“Parents should not be worried. Learners who are in school cannot go home, even medically it would be a mistake.
“If you say that students at Kolanya Boys High School should go back home, you will be enhancing the spread of the disease at the community level,” Sossion stated.
He added that students who were recalled to schools in the first reopening phase on October 12 were part of a test by Education Ministry under CS Magoha.
The Ministry wanted to ascertain the level of preparedness of schools before other grades were allowed to resume studies.
Sossion detailed that students were safer in schools rather than at home, adding that schools should reopen fully as Covid-19 is set to remain with us for a long time.
“These are the lessons and experiences we (everyone) have to learn. The outcome of opening schools was projected, and we were guided by the experts that it would occur.
“What we should be talking about now is how to approach the resumption of schools in the face of the rising Covid-19 pandemic.
CS Magoha was set to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, November 4, to discuss the possible dates for the mass return of students.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe approved the second reopening phase with Health Director General adding that new data indicated that children between the age of 10 and 19 years have the mildest form of Coronavirus, and are unlikely to spread it as highly as was initially thought.
Headteachers, on the other hand, have warned that students are difficult to supervise as most do not adhere to health protocols set out to curb the spread of Covid-19 unless under strict observation.