Let caution prevail in schools calendar
The announcement by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha that the school calendar will not be changed, has elicited both excitement and concern among parents.
Excitement that children will continue with their education and that there would be no interruption to learning and concern over the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, especially now with the third wave.
It is every Kenyan’s hope that life returns to normal, that routines which have been disrupted by the pandemic can be restored soon. But with the fluid nature of the virus, every precaution must be taken to keep infections at bay.
As such, education stakeholders, must make sure everything is in place to protect learners, teachers and non-teaching staff across the country.
The success of the previous term was commendable, but the rising cases of infections is cause for worry even as students prepare to get back to class.
While the CS has said it seems the curve is flattening, we should not sit back and relax.
n collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Education ministry should assess the situation to ensure the risk of spreading coronavirus among learners is reduced.
We should not put the lives of the next generation at risk for the sake of school reopening.
For teachers, increased monitoring of children should be emphasised, so that they can identify learners facing difficulty and to help those in distress. Importantly, the drive to vaccinate teachers should be put on top gear.
According to Health ministry statistics, of the more than 350,000 teachers in the country only about 75,000 have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
This is a low number that needs to be increased to guard against spread of the virus.
The government should also reconsider curfew hours in the red zone counties in light of schools reopening, to make things easier not only for learners, teachers and parents, but also residents in the affected areas.
Traffic is a menace especially when schools are in session, and with the 8pm curfew, things could be worse. Already the situation is hardly working out.
As much as we concentrate on schools, it is also important to extend measures to the community where children and teachers live.
All should adhere to Covid-19 protocols including washing hands, sanitising, social distancing and wearing masks at all times to keep the virus at bay.
