It’s like we have just learnt that schools are opening on Monday

The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us for almost a year now. Kenyans have taken all sorts of measures to deal with it, but have admitted that the virus is here to stay and the best thing we can do is to move on with life while being precautionary.

It is on this note that schools reopen on Monday. The question remains, how prepared are we?

The Ministry of Education has assured us that students will be required to wear masks, maintain social distance and, hopefully, be provided with sanitisers and water.

But as they get to school, bus and train termini will be chaotic due to congestion. The Ministry of Education should have staggered the opening dates over several days. 

It is also time that all stakeholders concerned with children's welfare were brought on board. The Ministry of Education has been the star of the show, giving orders while teachers implement them, and parents act more or less as by-standers.

Wanting infrastructure

Given that we are in the middle of a pandemic, it would be wise to involve parents and listen to their ideas about how to deal with medical emergencies involving their children in school.

We all agree that the state of infrastructure, particularly in public schools, is wanting to say the least. We have known this from the time schools were closed and, besides the purchase of some desks, nothing tangible has been done to improve the situation. 

The return of all students to school should be a wake-up call to the government to put in place systematic and institutional measures to ensure that the institutions have adequate teachers, desks, classrooms and books, even if that means the ministry getting a larger budget in June this year.

We have known that schools will reopen on January 4. It would be a shame if all stakeholders involved in the matter were caught flatfooted.

Ms Kyalo comments on topical issues; [email protected]