Plan to help learners recover lost class time

The August holidays will be cut by half, school days adjusted to have longer hours, and the midterm break scrapped in measures aimed at easing disruption of learning in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Education Secretary George Magoha Tuesday told the National Assembly’s Committee on Education and Research that the holidays would be reduced by two weeks and classes will end in the evening following a review of the school calendar.

Prof Magoha said the Covid-19 pandemic has affected 15 million learners in both primary and secondary schools. He, however, maintained that the curriculum would be completed following adjustments to the school calendar.

In the race to catch up with lost time, Prof Magoha said the second term half-term break of four days that had been set for June 15 to 19 will be scrapped.

This is a clear indication that the government has no plan to postpone the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCPE) examinations scheduled for later this year and has hopes of reopening schools before mid-June.

Schools were closed on March 15, three weeks before the scheduled closing date, as part of efforts - including a daily dusk-to-dawn curfews - to slow down the spread of the virus that had infected 535 people and killed 24 as at yesterday.

Schools were set to reopen on Monday, but the rising number of new Covid-19 cases has made the start of the second term uncertain.

The ministry said that operations in day schools will be adjusted to have longer hours, meaning that learners will be expected to be in school earlier than before and also stay on late.

“Just like in other sectors, Covid-19 situation has also adversely affected the education sector, including the normal learning calendar,” Prof Magoha said. “The ministry has put in place the following measures to ensure completion of the school syllabus; second term half-term will be shortened by four days and August holidays will be shortened by two weeks.”

The ministry told the committee that students will lose over seven weeks of the school calendar due to Covid-19

The government has in the past ruled out postponement of this year’s national examinations further piling pressure on teachers and students to complete the syllabus despite the pandemic.

Under this year’s calendar, KCPE examinations are expected to start on November 2 and end on November 4, while KCSE is to start on November 4 and end on November 30.

Prof Magoha said the global coronavirus pandemic had affected the roll out of curriculum designs for Grade Five, which was scheduled for January 2021 as KICD had scheduled for evaluation of the course books and teachers’ guide books last month but this could not happen.

Private schools have turned to online teaching to ensure completion of the syllabus in readiness for the national examinations while the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has partnered with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation to offer radio and TV lessons targeting students in public schools.

Students from poor backgrounds who do not have access to TV, radio or the internet are, however, unable to enjoy the virtual classes even as the national examinations set for November draw closer.

As the economic impact from the global pandemic begins to bite, fears are rife that top private schools could be driven out of business due to loss of fees, their main source of income. This has seen the elite schools charge fees for teaching students online through apps like Zoom and Skype.