Covid-19 safety rules a mirage in our schools
Kevin Nziku (right) shares his Christian Religious Education textbook with his desk mate Samuel Kamau during a lesson on October 14, 2020 at Mathare North Primary School.
What you need to know:
- Anything requiring boys to maintain cleanliness is doomed.
- A boy who last bathed two days before goes wild when told to sanitise and wash hands frequently.
When you single out a boy and ask to see his mask, he will look dazed and awed as his hands dig into his pockets, rummaging through them in vain.
When boys reported to school after seven months of Covid-19-instigated closure, they had several face masks each as directed by the administration. But these disappeared after a few days without explanation
When you single out a boy and ask to see his mask, he will look dazed and awed as his hands dig into his pockets, rummaging through them in vain. He would then remember that it must be in classroom and dash off.
But as he re-emerges in a mask that partially hides a forced smile for having cheated a reprimand from the teacher, another boy would come running after him, claiming the same mask!
Students seem to have resigned themselves to fate and expunged from their minds the existence of the coronavirus. Anything requiring boys to maintain cleanliness is doomed. If you asked them to write down the colour of their basins, few would give the right answer. For them, life is lived on a communal lane and, unlike girls, it is unregretted and nobody takes offence.
Sanitise and wash hands
A boy who last bathed two days before goes wild when told to sanitise and wash hands frequently. If taps in a girls’ school ran dry, a strike would be looming. Not so for boys; if assured they will still eat, they won’t have a problem.
It is the second week in school but the handwash stations at every corner of the school are still half-full with the soap missing. Some sanitiser containers are full and the liquid soaps are used for mopping classrooms.
In the dormitory, a trio would be chatting about a football match, all clamped in one bed. When a teacher appears, they scamper while scrambling for one mask.
Effecting strict adherence of the Covid-19 health protocols is a mirage in schools. Students are free-range and getting them back in line is a Herculean task.
