This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
As the country prepares to reopen schools in September, the Education Ministry has announced a drastic reduction in classroom capacity to curb the spread of COVID-19. According to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, each class will be limited to 15-20 learners, a significant reduction from the usual 45 learners.
This decision was made after experts from the Ministry of Health advised that classrooms be decongested to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The country has approximately 24 million primary and secondary school-going children, and this social distancing requirement means that more than 15 million may be forced to learn under trees.
Some schools, particularly in urban centers, have classes bursting with pupils, with numbers exceeding 70. This has raised concerns among education authorities, who fear that it will be a tall order for the government to accommodate all the learners in the existing school facilities.
Prof Magoha expressed concern that the government is racing against time to ensure schools have the necessary health equipment, including sanitizers, thermal guns, and handwashing tanks, before the planned September reopening. He spoke in Kitui County, where he toured the Kitui County Textiles Centre (Kicotec) to assess its capacity to manufacture quality face masks for school children.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had on June 1 asked the Education and Health ministries to chart a roadmap towards reopening the institutions of learning. However, the increasing number of cases in the country is a sign that the virus is not yet under control.
