The East African
Saturday January 02 2021
Students of Mugoiri Girls High School in Murang a County walk outside the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi on December 19, 2020. There are conflicting voices in Kenya s education sector following the re-opening of schools. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Summary
The country has 23,000 public primary schools with more than 12 million pupils and more than three million students in secondary schools, not counting learners in private institutions.
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There are neither additional classes, ablution facilities, nor complementary funding for schools as all levels of Kenyan learners resume in-class learning on January 4 after a nine-month disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Funding of basic and higher education institutions in light of Covid-19 pandemic will be a major focus this year.
Expansion of school and colleges infrastructure will be a challenge to decongest classes to meet social distancing protocols.
Mopping up learners, including pregnant girls, those in forced marriages, boys absorbed in menial jobs to stem the rate of schools drop out.
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Pushing for curriculum recovery out of the lost time and managing the transition of learners.
The movement of learners across schools caused by the closure of some private schools, re-location by parents who lost or changed jobs.
Coronavirus upends best laid education plans in tough year
Wednesday December 30 2020
Children play at Star of Hope Primary in Lunga Lunga village, Industrial Area Nairobi attends to a student on November 2. Schools reopen on January 4. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG
By LYNET IGADWAH
Summary
Many parents were optimistic that the interruption in the first term would soon be over and their children back in class. In hindsight now, Kenyans were underestimating the disruptive power of the pandemic whose impact they had yet to fully comprehend.
As the Ministry of Education grappled with unworkable school reopening dates in subsequent months when Covid-19 infections spiked, it became clear that pupils and students were in real danger of losing out on an academic year.
THE STANDARD By
Ignatius Odanga |
December 30th 2020 at 11:44:22 GMT +0300
Mildred Makokha (right) and Church of Jesus Christ representative hands over donations of sanitary towels, sanitisers and masks to need students in Matayos ahead of school opening next week. [Ignatius Odanga, Standard]
Busia Sub County Deputy County Commissioner Kipchumba Rutto has directed parents to ensure that all learners including pregnant ones report back to school next week.
Addressing the media in Busia town on Wednesday, Rutto directed chiefs and their assistants to ensure all students report to school on January 4, 2021.
“Chiefs and their assistants must ensure that all students including pregnant ones and those who have already given birth must report to school,” he said.
THE STANDARD By
Ignatius Odanga |
December 30th 2020 at 11:44:22 GMT +0300
Mildred Makokha (right) and Church of Jesus Christ representative hands over donations of sanitary towels, sanitisers and masks to need students in Matayos ahead of school opening next week. [Ignatius Odanga, Standard]
Busia Sub County Deputy County Commissioner Kipchumba Rutto has directed parents to ensure that all learners including pregnant ones report back to school next week.
Addressing the media in Busia town on Wednesday, Rutto directed chiefs and their assistants to ensure all students report to school on January 4, 2021.
“Chiefs and their assistants must ensure that all students including pregnant ones and those who have already given birth must report to school,” he said.