This archive report was first published on 10 May 2020.
With schools remaining closed for six weeks, the Ministry of Education is expected to give further directives on reopening by the first week of June. Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has made it clear that he will not rush to reopen schools if he feels there is still danger to the children, even if it takes a year.
This position may mean that children will miss a significant portion of their learning year, with those in schools that run from January to November potentially missing two terms, and those in schools that run from September to June missing the whole of the third term.
However, one fact is clear: those responsible for learning have been forced to review the issue of continuity in the face of unexpected circumstances, and e-learning has come into play.
Learning institutions from lower primary to university are grappling with the challenge of how to effectively deploy technology tools to teach, monitor progress, and even conduct examinations.
While the picture of performance so far across the country is not uniformly pretty, the fact that many schools and other learning institutions are attempting e-learning is highly commendable.
Effective roll-out of e-learning requires meticulous planning on the part of teachers, who have to reconfigure lessons to be delivered online. Notes have to be prepared early and shared in formats that students can easily access and digest.
However, Kenya faces added challenges, including patchy internet connectivity, especially in rural areas, and expensive devices that most parents cannot afford.
As a result, there will always be debate on how to achieve equity in offering education to the majority of Kenya's children. The government must do the right thing to give each child a fair chance to get education.
But it is surprising that some parents are still finding reasons to be unreasonable, even where there should be no issue. For example, parents of Brookhouse School are fighting to get discounts on third term fees, mixing up the issue of fees rebate and the right for children in lower primary to be taught using e-learning.
It is traumatic enough that learning has been so severely disrupted in all schools. For unnecessary pain to be added to this by some parents who feel that their children should not be on the e-learning platform is extreme.
Children willing and able to e-learn should be encouraged.
— Tom Mshindi, former Chief Editor of the Nation Media Group and Managing Partner for Blue Crane Global.
