The government has extended school reopening for further one
months, effective May 4, following the rising number of coronavirus cases in
the country.
Education cabinet secretary George Magoha said on Sunday
that it is in the interest of protecting children from the risk of contracting
the highly contagious disease.
“In the interest of the safety and lives of our children,
the government has decided to extend school closure for one month effective
from the date of opening,” said CS Magoha.
However, the CS affirmed that the Kenya Certificate for Primary
Education and Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education exams will go on as
planned, depending on the government move to contain covid-19 pandemic.
“There will be many interventions that will depend on how
the government is able to control this disease. I want to emphasize that
whenever the examination is going to be administered, every Kenyan child will
have been given the opportunity to cover whatever time that is lost before the
said examination is administered,” said the CS.
Earlier, professor Magoha said that the digital education launched
by the ministry via the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) is
going on, and children are learning from home, except a few who do not have
access to the digital platmform –and “the ministry is working towards enabling
them access the content”.
But according to experts, the issue with digital learning in
Kenya is way too far to be initiated, especially at such difficult time brought
about by the pandemic.
The Program Manager PAL Network and Education expert Amos
Kaburu said it is true that students are accessing KICD content at home but not
all of them, adding that this cannot be compared to learning or revision because
children grasp concepts better when there is interaction.
“Learners grasp concepts better when there is interaction.
When we let learners grasp concepts on Chemistry for instance that is
practical, learning at home is difficult. Truth be told, little learning is
happening at home because there is anxiety,” said Mr. Kaburu on Sunday Live
interview aired on Citizen TV.
He welcomed the move by the ministry to extent reopening
date, but warned that this cannot go far more than 2 months.
“Interruptions on the school calendar can be accommodated up
to 2 months. If we pick up the school calendar in July, we can still
accommodate the interruptions, but disruptions past July may force the school
calendar to roll over into 2021,” he said.
Mr. Kaburu added that the fact that students are accessing
KICD content, does not place them at the same level in syllabus coverage, and
once schools reopen, different schools will pick from where they left.
“Worst case scenario would be learners repeating a class, maybe
it is time to re-evaluate whether we need exams to move to the next step, or whether
e-learning is working…Truth be told, when schools re-open, they will start
where they left off in mid-March,” he added.
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna on the other hand said
that the Ministry of Education will ensure that every syllabus will be
completed before candidates sit for the national exams.
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