Public as well as private learning institutions have officially opened their doors after nine months of closure due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Many parents resisted the government’s directive to reopen schools, citing lack of fees as a result of Coronavirus impacts on the economy.

This led to intervention from the CS for education George Magoha, who warned school heads against sending home learners for fees as the government would cater for it. However, in the morning of yesterday, learners in St. Augustine Secondary school Nomorio were sent back home over fees arrears.

One of the students cried out saying that she was prepared to learn but she had been sent home. She called upon political leaders to come out and address the issue.

“We had been at home for too long, we are thirsty for learning but the school head has sent us back home over fees arrears despite the government’s directive. Currently, our parents are broke and there is no way out to get the money…”

However, our efforts to get a comment from the school management did not bear fruits as the deputy headteacher Mr. Akanga Stanley was relactant to address the press.

On the other side, social distancing in public schools is a challenge, coupled with financial constraints. This is according to Kenya Primary and Secondary Heads Association(Kepsha) chairman Mt. Elgon Partrick Kibit.

A student in Kamuneru Primary school in Mt. Elgon waiting to learn from the tree shade due to insufficient infrastructure.

“We have been forced to split classes into smaller groups to achieve social distance which is taxing heavily on our teachers…”

Mr. Kibit calls upon the ministry of education to employ more teachers as a way of improving access to education, as social distancing makes it difficult for the available teachers.

However, he warns that the system of learning under tree shades may not work in case of adverse weather such as heavy rains.