Kenyan parents have displayed their disappointment over the public announcement made by Education CS Magoha to extend the reopening of schools. The Education CS publicized this on Saturday 13, 2022, pushing the date for the reopening of schools from Monday, August 15 to Thursday, August 18.
The changes had been influenced by the delay in the tallying process where the IEBC headed by Chairman Wafula Chebukati is yet to announce the fifth president of Kenya six days later.
“Following the conduct of our national elections on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, the process of tallying ballots is still ongoing. Therefore, following further consultations, I hereby convey the government’s decision on the suspension of the reopening of all basic education institutions with effect from Monday, August 15, 2022, until Thursday, August 18, 2022,” he clarified.
While it was the realistic and safe thing to do, the already financially overburdened Kenyan parents feel that the extension pushes further the period their children stay at home. According to them, they had spent a lot for their children to stay home for over 2 weeks.
“Why did we even pay school fees for this term?” read one comment on Facebook.
“We saw this coming. Parents in this country suffer the most,” read another.
The Education CS had ordered the closure of all schools on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, to facilitate the general elections in Kenya. The initial reopening date of August 11 was pushed to August 15 and then further to August 18.
Yet, the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association Chairman Kahi Indimuli has issued a warning to CS Magoha stating that the extended closure of schools would affect the students.
His arguments were that further pushing of the reopening dates would affect the children’s preparation for exams, especially the national ones like KCPE, KCSE, and transitioning to Grade Six.
“If we delay further, the CS may need to call a meeting to discuss the way forward. We will see if we will be able to sit exams in December,” stated Indimuli.
The delay in the reopening of schools could disregard the effort that schools have made to move past the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We just recovering from the covid-19 pandemic and trying to catch up with the lost time. These delays will make us lose all the gains we had made,” he added.
Parents on the other hand are now forced to spend more to cater to basic needs like food for their children which was initially not on the budget.
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