Schools set to reopen as teachers directed to report on Monday

Teachers have been ordered to report to school by Monday signalling resumption of learning soon amid ill-preparedness by parents on the new dates.

The Ministry of Education Monday gave the clearest indication yet that schools will reopen in October after Covid-19 positivity rates dropped.

Education Secretary George Magoha said the teachers are required back to schools to make them habitable ahead of return by learners.

“We are asking teachers to report back to school on Monday September28 to prepare for the eventual reopening of schools,” he said.

The announcement has however elicited mixed reactions from parents with majority decrying they have been caught flat-footed by the government’s decision.

Juliet Mueni, a parent at Catholic Primary school in Nairobi said she has no clue where to get school fees, noting that even feeding her family is currently a challenge.

The mother of three is a salonist and is the sole bread winner for her children who are now upcountry.

A parent at Top Performance Academy in Syokimau, who asked not to be named said she had been rendered jobless by the Covid-19 pandemic

“This new date is bad for me since I had set my mind for a January reopening when I will be able to pay fees,” she said.

In July, Prof Magoha said schools would resume in January 2021 when the Covid-19 infections were expected to have stabilised and schools were well prepared.

Last week, this changed when the CS said education stakeholders were relooking at reopening dates based on “available facts and the prevailing circumstances”. He said learners in public schools with dilapidated infrastructure or those destroyed by floods will be transferred to other schools.

The Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA), said 133 private schools may not reopen after their proprietors said they had run out of money due to prolonged closure of the institutions.

This means some parents will be forced to search for alternative schools for their children.