Concern over learner safety as schools set to reopen

Today marks the official closing date of second term for Grade 4, Standard Eight and Form Four learners who have been in school for the last 11 weeks as their schoolmates in other classes stayed out of school for nine months.

The learners will only have a short break as schools are scheduled to fully reopen on January 4 amid growing concerns that little has been done to get the institutions ready and safe for the learners.

In the just-ended term, the learners in primary schools were taken through an assessment by the Kenya National Examinations Council to gauge their preparedness to learn. The tests also sought to establish the extent of loss of learning so that teachers can devise mitigation measures.

However, the council is yet to release its analysis of how the learners performed. 

Infections rose

Teachers will be expected to administer similar assessments to other classes who have been out longer. During the term, there were scares across the country as schools reported Covid-19 infections among teachers and learners. Some schools temporarily closed and some teachers were reported to have died of the coronavirus.  

Parents, especially, have voiced their apprehension at the decision to take all learners back to school without new classrooms being added since the three classes opened on October 12. 

Checks by the Nation show that public schools, which are attended by the majority of Kenyan children are ill-prepared to prevent the spread of Covid-19. With only 11 days left before resumption of learning, the schools lack basic infrastructure to adhere to the health and safety guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education. 

Apart from lack of adherence to the health guidelines, more than 50,000 learners who were attending private schools before the pandemic will have to find alternative schools after close to 300 schools closed due to financial constraints. 

Pupils yet to embrace Covid rules

Ms Rose Otieno, a teacher at Pandi Pieri Primary in Kisumu County said that it will be difficult to manage a large number of learners when they all resume schooling. 

"Our concern is that we have limited classrooms against a large number of pupils. We still don't know how we will manage," she said.

She noted that pupils are yet to embrace wearing face masks properly and observe social distancing, which puts their colleagues and teachers at risk of contracting Covid-19.

In Narok County, schools face an acute shortage of water and inadequate physical infrastructure. Many of the institutions do not have water points and learners take water to school in small plastic jerry cans for hand washing as well as to prepare meals for the school feeding programmes. 

The county has 745 primary schools and 182 secondary schools, with an enrolment of 284,201 and 47,758 learners, respectively. Some schools like Ilmashariani Primary School, which has more than 1,000 pupils, have more than 60 pupils a classroom making it impossible to observe social distancing.

“Among other requirements is the need to equip schools with more classrooms, laboratories and dormitories to ensure social distancing is achieved, but the budget for this is really on the higher side” said Narok governor, Samuel Tunai, who has formed a technical committee to look into the challenges schools face. He convened a crisis meeting that brought together education sector players, including members of Parliament, members of the county assembly and educationalists. 

Poor infrastructure

Many schools in Molo Sub-county have poor infrastructure, lack of spacious classrooms, clean running water and hand washing stations.

At Orthodox Primary School in Elburgon, with over 1,200 pupils, most of the classrooms are in poor condition and learners will have to use makeshift desks when they report back. According to a teacher who requested not to be quoted, the school has 24 classrooms that seat more than 50 pupils each.

"We need at least 36 more classrooms to accommodate the entire school safely according to the social distancing regulations," he said.

Other schools with inadequate infrastructure include Timoo, Kimonio and Chai Moto in Mariashoni. The schools were vandalised when chaos erupted in the area early this year. 

In Homa Bay County, Education Newtown, an organisation advocating better education expressed fear that Covid-19 cases might rise when schools reopen. 

"Most government schools are crowded. Reopening of schools will be a recipe for the spread of Covid-19 among learners," said group coordinator, Julius Omuga.

In Migori County, teachers and students have expressed disappointment over what they termed a wasted year. A section of students told the Nation that the government directive to shut down schools following the outbreak had adversely affected their education plans.

“I expected to complete my secondary education this year. The government directive has greatly inconvenienced learners, especially the candidates,” said Anne Rose, a Form Four student at Dede Girls.

“I hoped to join college by the beginning of next year. The sudden change in the academic calendar was a huge drawback to my pursuit for education advancement but I have to bear with the situation,” said Brian Okoth, a student at Kanga High School.

Teachers have equally expressed concern about the change of events, with parents accusing the Ministry of Education of not doing enough to contain the virus when schools reopen.

Some of the teachers said there were inadequate preparations by the government ahead of January reopening as schools were yet to be supplied with protective equipment.

“We are glad the government is supplying desks to schools but whatever is provided is negligible owing to the current population in schools. A lot should be done since January is fast approaching,” Mr Owino said.

Reporting by David Muchunguh, George Sayagie, John Njoroge, George Odiwuor, Elizabeth Ojina and Ian Byron